Singer in the back
by Nival Vixen
Summary: After being ignored or used for her entire life, Jane "Mouse" Franklin joins Glee Club, and is no longer the singer in the back. -Beginning follows the TV show- ... Warnings: swearing, adult themes... Puck/OC, and other Glee ships
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee, or its characters. I only own Mouse.

**Summary:** After being ignored or used for her entire life, Jane "Mouse" Franklin joins Glee Club, and is no longer the singer in the back. It's nothing like what you're thinking ... Puck/OC

(a/n: _Unfortunately, we're two episodes behind here, so I really hope that Puck isn't too OOC._

__

I know that this isn't the first Puck/OC, and probably not the last. As always, I try to be different, and I hope that I've achieved that.

_Read on, oh faithful ones!_)

...

Chapter One

...

Mouse was standing outside of Mr. Schuester's office, biting her nails nervously. She blended into the wall, despite wearing black pants and a white shirt, and Mr. Schuester had to do a double-take before he saw her properly.

"Can I help you?" he asked, smiling brightly as he tried to search his brain for the young woman's name, and open his office door at the same time.

She was a student and a senior, judging by her age, but Will was sure that he'd never seen her before.

"I'm here to audition for _New Directions_," Mouse replied, still biting her thumbnail.

"Oh, yes. All right. Please, come in..." he trailed off, still unable to recognise her name.  
_  
He thought he knew everyone at this school_!

"My name is Jane Franklin," she said, walking into his office.

"All right, Jane. What are you going to sing?" he asked with enthusiasm as he followed her inside.

_Jane Franklin. Jane, Jane... He was sure he'd heard of a Jane before, and there was another Jane, but she was only an eighth grader. Definitely not her_.

"Black Balloon by Goo Goo Dolls. It's the only reasonable song on that list. Well, besides Aretha Franklin, and possibly neun-und-neunzig luft balloons," she muttered.

"Well, why don't you sing _99 Luftballoons_ then?" Will asked with a grin.

"Because the English version sucks, and my German pronunciation still isn't the best for me to sing that," Mouse replied.

She could tell that Mr. Schue still had no idea who she was, and sighed slightly.

"Estoy en su clase española. I got ninety-eight percent on your last test, but you said the highest score was Teresa's ninety-five..." Mouse said. (I am in your Spanish class.)

"Umm... Sorry about that, Jane," Will said, now embarrassed and frustrated.

_She was in his class, and he still couldn't recognise her_!

"You probably know me as Mouse," she said mercifully.

"_Mouse_! Yes, I know you," Will said, his hand clenched in triumph. He coughed slightly, realising what he'd just done and said. "Yes. Black Balloon. Goo Goo Dolls. That's one of the songs I don't have, actually. Do you have the music?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes, but I don't sing it the same way, so I'd just like to sing it without it," Mouse replied.

"Great! Excellent. Ummm... Did you fill in a form?" Will asked, looking around his desk for a blank form.

Mouse smiled briefly, opening her bag with one hand, and biting the skin from her finger on the other. She frowned at her finger as it bled from her teeth's most recent attack, sucked it quickly and handed the paper to Mr. Schuester.

"Okay, Mous...Jane," he quickly corrected himself.

"Mouse is fine," she replied, shrugging.

"Right, Mouse. Whenever you're ready," Will said with a bright smile.

She didn't notice his slight look of disbelief as he looked down at her sheet.

_She volunteered in the library every single school day. No wonder he hadn't noticed her. He hadn't been into the library since his first day working here, and that was only because it was a requirement that he know the school's layout, which was ridiculous since he'd gone to this school, and the layout was the only thing that hadn't changed in his ten year absence_.

Mouse coughed slightly, clearing the taste of blood from her mouth. Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly, and began.

"_Comin' down the years turned over,_

_And angels fall without you there._

_And I'll go on now to lead you home_," she sang at the top of her lungs, the song bouncing off the office walls and down the school halls.

"_All because I'm_

_All because I'm_..." her voice softened, and she looked past Mr. Schuester to somewhere deep in her mind.

"_I've become_

_What you became to me_," she finished softly, a lilt in her voice.

Mouse stopped singing, looking to Mr. Schuester. His mouth was hanging open, his eyes filled with shock. Her face burned in embarrassment, and she ran from the room, bumping into someone as she fled.

"Mr. Schue? You 'kay?" Puck asked, waving a hand in front of his face.

"What? Puck? Where'd she go?" Will asked, looking around.

"Who?"

"Jane. Mouse... Whatever she's called, that was brilliant. Where is she?"

Puck shook his head. Mr. Schue's words always got strung together when he was excited, like he couldn't keep them all in at once. Weird guy.

"Mouse just squeaked and ran," he said, shrugging.

"Oh, she did anything but squeak. Didn't you hear her sing?" Will asked, and his eyes did that light-up-from-the-inside thing that Puck could never quite understand.

"Thought you were playing the radio in here. Didn't know she sang," Puck replied, shrugging again.

_Didn't Mr. Schue know what the shrug meant? It meant 'I don't know and I don't fucking care' ... Everyone else knew that, why not Schue?_!

"I've got to go find her... Oh, shit. Tina's coming soon. Can you go find her, Puck?"

"Tina?"

"No, Mouse. Go find Mouse and bring her back," Will said, looking down at the sheets in his hands. "She's probably in the library."

Puck just stared at Mr. Schuester. "I can't go in there, Schue. No way," Puck said, shaking his head.

"Puck, you don't get it. She has to sing. We need her, just as much as we need you to sing. Do it for Ackafellas," Will pleaded. "Hey, Tina. Come in! Puck was just leaving," he said, pushing Puck out the door.

Tina looked at Puck quizzically as he passed her and he glared back at her. She rolled her eyes and sat in front of Mr. Schuester's desk.

Puck glared for a moment longer at Mr. Schue, but Will just shut the door, and turned back to Tina with a smile. Puck muttered under his breath, then looked at the papers in his hands. Mr. Schue had pushed them into his hands as he'd left, probably by mistake, but Puck wasn't going to give them back now.

_Later, maybe. Now, after being dismissed and ignored? No fucking way_.

Puck headed down the hall, reading the neat handwriting on the New Directions audition form.

What song are you singing, and why?

_Black Balloon__ by Goo Goo Dolls, because nearly everything else on your pre-approved list sucks. But I guess the community church doesn't know the meaning of this song, since it was written about a drug addict. Oh, and __Personal Jesus__ by Depeche Mode isn't actually a Christian song either. I'd love to see that blaring out at the next church fete_!

_Pequeño ratón sarcástico_, he thought with a slight grin. (Sarcastic little mouse.)

Flipping to the front page, Puck looked at her details.

Name: _Jane Franklin. AKA Mouse._

What you're good at: _Reading, writing, working in the library, singing, kicking arse on Halo 3._

Why you want to sing: _Because I get extra credit for college, and it looks good on my resume. And I like to sing. Why else?_

To you, what does New Directions mean? _Turning around and realising that there's another path, not just the one everyone else is on... I don't know, some sort of dumb name you thought of because 'The High School Singers' would get everyone killed_?

Comments: _Do you want to know if I'm a virgin too? Geez, what's with all the personal questions? You're never going to get into my head, so leave it alone already_!

Puck was surprised to say the least. He didn't know girls knew how to play Halo 3! He headed to the library, humming a song softly.

...

Mouse muttered to herself, scanning and moving the books with more force than was necessary. She didn't care, she just wanted to throw something hard at someone, but since Principal Figgins was a cheapskate, there were no heavy and expensive books to throw at someone's head.

"_Stupid little girl, see what you've done. Gone and broken my heart again. Stupid little girl_," she sang under her breath, kicking the chair beside her.

"What'd the chair do?" a voice asked from behind her.

"This area is for staff only; get out, Noah," Mouse said, turning to glare at him.

He bristled at the use of his first name, glaring back at her. "Last I saw, you're not staff."

"I'm a volunteer, now get out," she said, glaring harder.

_Ms. Lemay, the librarian, had a glare that could make even Sue Sylvester look tame. Why didn't she have that sort of glare too? Did you need the years of experience? Or just the cynicism of a 45-year-old divorcee_?

"What was that song?" he asked, ignoring her glare.

"Nothing; it wasn't a song," Mouse said. "I said to get out, Puck. Students aren't allowed back here. If you don't leave, I will make you," she said, more force in her voice now.

He just laughed at her. "Sure you will. Kicking arse on Halo 3 isn't the same as actually kicking arse," he taunted, waving the papers in front of her.

"Give me that! You prick, that's personal information!" she said, reaching to grab it.

"So are you still a virgin? Last question, remember?" Puck asked, smirking again.

Mouse seethed and glared. She grabbed his ear, twisting it around until he yelped in pain. Holding his shoulder, she marched him out of the staff (and volunteer) office and to the library's front door.

"I said to get out. Now leave, or I will contact security," Mouse hissed, ripping the papers out of his hands.

Puck left the library, rubbing his ear and swearing under his breath in Spanish.

"_Puedo entenderle_," Mouse called after him. (I understand you.)

He held up his middle finger back at her, grinding his teeth as she laughed at him.

...

Puck muttered all the way to Mr. Schue's office, then when he saw the little post-it note on the door, continued to mutter all the way to the auditorium.

"Puck, how'd you go?" Mr. Schue asked, grinning at him.

"Well, she's got a mean grip, she's pissed off, but she should be here soon to rip into you."

"What? What on earth did you do to her?" Schue asked, looking alarmed.

"Hey, you just said to get her here, and that's what I did. You never said how to do it... Little mouse has claws," Puck muttered, rubbing his ear again.

Will sighed and rubbed his face.

More conflict was just what New Directions didn't need! If Puck was going to make things difficult for Mouse (Jane? What was he supposed to call her?), well he didn't know what to do.

"Mr. Schuester, can I talk to you?" Mouse asked, coming down to where he was sitting on the stage.

"Sure. Puck was just leaving," Will said, looking to Puck briefly.

Puck rolled his eyes and left, covering his ears protectively.

"_Baka_," Mouse hissed after him.

"What?" Will asked, frowning.

"_Idiot_ in Japanese," she answered.

"So what's up, Jane?"

"Just call me Mouse. No one calls me Jane," she said. "Do you know you sound like a try-hard when you say 'what's up'? I mean, you're either trying to be Bugs Bunny, a stoner, or a really bad rapper."

"Umm... Thanks for that. You came here for something?" he asked, shocked at her bluntness.

"Wanted to know how Noah 'Puck' Puckerson, the idiot with the big mouth, got my personal information for New Directions," Mouse replied, throwing her paperwork at him.

"I didn't ... umm ... I don't ... How did..." Will stumbled over his thoughts and words, stopping and looking at Mouse with a slight smile. "Sorry. I have no recollection of giving them to him, but I must have when Tina came in earlier. I didn't know that your answers would be so personal," he said, looking down at her answers properly.

"Yeah, well I didn't know that Puck would be able to get hold of them," Mouse muttered.

"You were great earlier," Will said, smiling brightly now.

Mouse scoffed. "Right, that's why you were sitting there in shock."

"Of course I was shocked. I hadn't heard anything but a squeak from you, and then that ... It was brilliant! Still interested in being part of Glee?" Will asked, grinning.

"Yeah, I am," Mouse said hesitantly.

"But?"

"But do we really have to sing those songs on that list? There's really nothing good in there! I mean, can we at least have the option to write our own songs?"

"Of course that's an option! Have you written anything?" Will asked, excited now.

Mouse went bright red, nodding briefly.

She hadn't meant for him to know, because then he'd ask her to sing it, and ... _damn, she'd just walked straight into that one_!

"Well? Do you mind if I hear it? Just a bit is fine," he said, giving her an encouraging nod.

Mouse stood up on the stage, looking out at the rows of empty seats as she calmed herself down, convincing herself to get the courage to sing.

_It's just a song. Words can't hurt you._

_Whoever said that was an idiot._

_Just sing already. Come on, he might like it..._

_And if he doesn't?_

_Well, you can just run away again. Now sing, little mouse_.

Mouse took a deep breath, closed her eyes and started to sing.

"_You're a hero, save the world,_

_You're a hero, save the girl._

_Watch the world with all its praise_

_You save everyone but me_.

"_You close your eyes, and you can see,_

_Close your eyes, but you can't see me._

_Watch as I disappear out of sight_

_You're out of your mind._

"_Block your ears, and you still hear,_

_I scream your name through my fear._

_You don't hear me calling to you_

_Save everyone but me_.

"_You're the hero, flying high_

_You're the hero, buying time._

_Keep on running through_

_Your imaginary world_.

"_Where_...

"_You're the hero who saves the world._

_You're the hero who saves the girl._

_But you can't see me, you can't hear me._

_You saved everyone but me_.

"_You're the hero in your mind,_

_You're the hero, out of time_.

"_Are you sorry now_

_That you couldn't save me_?"

She opened her eyes to see that same stunned-shocked look on Mr. Schuester's face. Mouse hoped it was a good thing.

"I know it was a ballad, and not really the show-tune stuff that Glee Club's going to do, and it's not completely finished but ..." Mouse trailed off, shrugging.

It was then that she noticed that all of the Glee Club members were standing in the auditorium. She went bright red, let out a small squeak and dropped down to sit on the stage, burying her face in her hands.

"Who's she?" Quinn asked.

"No idea, but she's good," Rachel muttered.

"All right, everyone welcome our newest Glee member, Mouse," Schuester introduced, clapping loudly, a bright grin on his face.

Finn, Tina, Kurt, Mercedes and Artie all clapped loudly along with Mr. Schuester. Quinn and Rachel clapped politely, standing on either side of Finn, and Puck just watched the little mouse from his seat further back in the auditorium.

...

End of the first chapter. I hope you liked it.

Thanks for reading!

...


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee, or its characters. I only own Mouse.

**Summary:** After being ignored or used for her entire life, Jane "Mouse" Franklin joins Glee Club, and is no longer the singer in the back. It's nothing like what you're thinking ... Puck/OC

(a/n: _Thank you to everyone who reviewed, I will reply soon!  
__  
Read on, oh faithful ones!_)

...

Chapter Two

...

Puck hated that he was stepping foot into the library for the second time in as many days. _He'd avoided the damned place for the past five years, and had been proud of that fact_... Heading to the back of the library to the staff office, he heard Mouse singing and shook his head. _Wasn't this supposed to be a library, where people were 'shushed' at every noise? Where was the shushing now_?

"Stop that singing; don't you know this is a library, Mouse?" Puck muttered, leaning against the door frame.

"You're in the library again. I just have to call the media. People world-wide will be stunned," Mouse replied, smirking over at him.

"For such a little mouse, you sure have a lot of confidence," Puck grumbled.

"For such a dumb jock, Noah Puckerman, you're awfully into stereotypes," she replied, rolling her eyes as she stamped a book and ripped out the front page.

"What're you doing to that book?" he asked in shock.

"It's my job today. No one's borrowed these books in the last five years, so they're getting thrown out. And since I work here, I get first choice," Mouse said, looking happily at the small pile of books near her feet.

"You're really into all this stuff, aren't you?" Puck asked.

"What stuff?"

"Books. Reading."

"Yeah," Mouse replied, shrugging. "I like knowledge and losing myself in other worlds, and _why_ am I telling this to you? More importantly, why do you care?" she asked, turning to look at him.

"Never said I cared, _chica_."

"Then why are you in here?"

"Curiosity," he offered, grinning.

"If I'm a mouse, then you're a cat, and everyone knows that curiosity will kill you."

"I'll take my chances. So, what's with all the singing? Aren't you supposed to be shushing everyone?"

She laughed, and he would have glared if it had been anything but joyous laughter. "You haven't been in the library for a long time, have you, Noah?"

"No," he said, his pride faltering.

"Talking is allowed now. It's not the 70's where all the librarians where long skirts, shirts and have their hair up in buns," she said, rolling her eyes as she indicated her short hair.

Puck agreed with a nod as he looked her over, then he noticed the overly simple black shoes on her feet.

"Nice librarian shoes," he muttered sarcastically.

"Thanks," she drawled, just as sarcastic. "I'd like to see you walk around in heels all day, Noah. They're not really practical for shelving heavy books."

"Right... So have you had lunch?"

"Yes, and no, I'm not going to sleep with you," Mouse replied.

"What? I didn't even ask, and as if I'd want to sleep with you," Puck said. "I like to date within my own species."

"Your own species consists of you, yourself and no one else. Have fun with your hand," Mouse replied, smirking.

"Why'd you think I want to sleep with you?"

"Because you've slept with all of the Cheerios, most of the females at this school, including Sue Sylvester and Ms. Lemay... I'm one of about five females you haven't slept with, and then you'll have fucked all of the women at William McKinley High. Congratulations, I hear they make medals for that now."

Puck just stared at Mouse, wondering how the fuck she knew he'd slept with Sue Sylvester. _Not his proudest moment, of course, but she **was** an older woman__. He'd made sure it was protected sex, of course. Sue's hepatitis was a world-wide known fact because of her damned megaphone_.

"You'd be amazed at what people say when they think no one's listening," Mouse said, answering his silent question.

He just looked at her, waiting for a continuation.

"Well, I know that Quinn's pregnant with your baby, and not Finn's. Kurt is gay, but everyone knows that; what they don't know is that he's in love with Finn. Tina likes Artie, but Artie wouldn't know that if she tattooed it on his guitar. Sandy Ryerson thinks he's not gay, but he still watches Brokeback Mountain and Dream Girls every weekend; and Principal Figgins has a video on YouTube involving knee-high plane socks. It's as weird as. Oh, and he's also a cheapskate, and still pays for Sylvester's European dry-cleaning because she scares the fuck out of him."

"I didn't know you knew how to swear," Puck said.

"You don't know a lot, Noah, but I won't judge you for it. Now scat, I've got to finish this pile in ten minutes before Ms. Lemay gets back," Mouse said, returning to the pile of books.

Puck was still reeling for a long while after he left the library.

...

"Start again from the top!" Will called out, clapping his hands together.

"Come on, Mr. Schue! We've been doing this one routine for an hour!" Finn groaned.

"How much more? We have Cheerio practice soon," Santana said, Brittany nodding her agreement.

"We keep working until we get it right, isn't that right, Mr. Schuester?" Rachel asked, smiling brightly.

"Hell to the no! I've got sweat coming off my sweat here, Mr. Schue! Ten minute break!" Mercedes called out, lying on the stage.

"Really didn't need to know that, Mercedes, but you're right. Ten minute break. Breathe a bit, get a drink of water. How you going, Mouse?" Will asked quietly as she walked down the stage stairs to her bag.

"Fine. Just getting used to singing so much," she replied, shrugging.

"I can help you with that," Rachel offered quickly.

"Thanks."

"Puck, how you holding up?" Will asked.

"Fine," he replied. "Just need some water."

"Right. Go for it. All right, now this routine is ... " Will stopped as his phone started ringing. "Just a sec, guys. Hi Terri. Oh, I didn't know you were choosing the colours already... Yeah, sure yellow is good. I think pink _and_ yellow is a bit much," he said with a small laugh.

Puck watched Mouse as he drank his water, and noticed the slight frown on her face. Following the direction of her gaze, he saw Quinn staring at Mr. Schue with an anxious expression, wringing her hands. Santana and Brittany stood in front of her, redirecting Quinn's attention.

He wondered what was wrong, and then his mind hissed '_Lima loser_', reminding him cruelly that he shouldn't care about that bitch.

"You all right, Mercedes?" Kurt asked, hovering above her.

Finn walked over to look down at Mercedes too. "You don't look the best, Mercedes."

"I'm fine. Water," Mercedes said, fanning herself, still lying on the stage.

"You're going to ruin that gorgeous outfit if you don't get up, Mercedes," Kurt advised her.

"It is a good outfit," Finn acknowledged, grinning down at her.

Mercedes sat up, sighing. Mouse rolled a bottle of water over to Mercedes, smiling briefly when the other girl nodded her thanks. She noticed the puppy dog look on Kurt's face when he looked at Finn, and shook her head.

_Some people were too easy to read_.

"Love you too. Bye." Mr. Schuester shut his phone and turned back to face the stage. "Okay, everyone! Let's take it again from the top!"

A collective groan echoed through them, and even Rachel looked weary, but Mr. Schuester's enthusiasm was catching, and they started again.

...

"H-hi Artie," Tina said, smiling at him. "D-do you want h-help?" she asked, indicating to his guitar.

"I'm fine, thanks Tina. You did a good job today," he said, grinning at her as he started to pack up his guitar.

"T-thanks! Y-you t-t-too," she stammered.

Her stutter always got worse when she was nervous, except when she was singing. Tina hated it. _Life would be so much easier if she could just sing her way through it_.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Tina. Have a good night," Artie said cheerfully, balancing his guitar on his lap as he rolled out of the auditorium.

"Bye," Tina said, sighing.

...

"I've already said I'm not going to sleep with you, Noah. You can stop following me now," Mouse called.

"I'm not following you, little mouse. I'm just walking this way," he replied from a few metres back, grinning.

Mouse muttered under her breath. She didn't want him to know where she lived, but considering he'd already slept with both the receptionist and the student record administrator at the school, Mouse figured Puck could get access to her personal information whenever he wanted to. Sighing, she headed into her driveway and walked up to the house.

"Nice of you to invite me over, Mouse," Puck said, smirking as he caught up to her.

"Go away," Mouse hissed, glaring. She was just about to twist his ear and kick his knee out when the front door opened.

"Mousie! Mummy! Mousie has a friend!" Candon, Jane's younger brother, yelled.

"Thanks Candy," Mouse groaned, hitting her forehead on the doorframe.

"You brought a friend home, Jane?" her mother asked, coming into the foyer with a bright smile. "Hello, I'm Sarah, Jane's mother. It's nice to see Jane bringing a friend home. And it's lovely to meet you," Sarah added, her smile getting brighter.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Franklin. I'm Noah," Puck replied, looking her over with a slight grin.

"Stop looking at my mother like that, you pervert," Mouse hissed at him, glaring.

Puck just smirked at her in return.

"Mummy!" Candon yelled from the lounge room loudly.

"Oh dear. Jane sweetie, I was hoping you could look after Candon today. I've got netball this afternoon. I would have cancelled if I'd known you were bringing a friend over, but Jen twisted her ankle and I'm the only umpire left who isn't pregnant and can still run up and down the court. I think all of the men hatched a plan to get us all pregnant! I heard your teacher's wife, Terri, is pregnant too. Odd that she isn't bigger, but some women are just lucky like that, I guess."

"MUMMY!" Candon yelled again.

"It's fine, Mum," Mouse said with a sigh.

"Thank you, sweetie! Candon, be good for Jane, and Jane, you behave!" Sarah said with a wink and obvious look to Puck.

"I'll treat her good, Mrs. Franklin," Puck said, putting an arm around Mouse's shoulders.

Sarah missed the look of hatred Jane gave Puck, and just smiled as she left the house.

"Get your arm off me," Mouse said, gritting her teeth as she moved away from him.

"Mousie!" Candon started yelling now.

"I'm coming Candy," Mouse said, hurrying to the lounge room.

"It stopped!" Candon cried, hugging his blanket tightly as he looked at the TV screen with tearful eyes.

"Oh sweetie, it's just been paused. You need to press this big button here, remember?"

"Don't want to. You do it," Candy pouted, sitting on his beanbag, his knees up to his chest.

Mouse sighed, pressed the play button, and ruffled Candy's hair up, grinning as he giggled.

"What's he watching?" Puck asked, having followed Mouse.

"_The Incredibles_. Thought everyone knew what that movie was," Mouse muttered, pulling her bag off. "You know where I live, so you can leave now," she said, sitting on her own beanbag.

"I'm all right," Puck replied, sitting on the lounge closest to her.

"It wasn't a question, Noah. Get the H-E-L-L out," she said, careful not to swear around Candy. He had a habit of copying words.

"I'm sure it wasn't. I want to see you play Halo 3," he replied, looking around the lounge room.

"_Halo 3_'s in my room, and you're sure not going in there," Mouse said, unzipping her bag.

"What you doing now?"

"My homework, what else?" she replied, rolling her eyes.

"You actually do that?" he asked, laughing.

"SHUSH!" Candon yelled, not looking away from the movie.

"Wow, he's already set to work in the library with you," Puck said.

Mouse rubbed her temples and got off the beanbag as quietly as she could. Grabbing her bag with her free hand, she held her homework tightly in the other. Candy liked to make dolls out of paper, which is how her last English essay had come to an early death.

"Follow me, and be quiet," she told Puck.

He grinned and followed her upstairs. Mouse gripped her homework and bag tighter. No one outside of the family had been in her room since she was twelve, and even then her parents knew not to go in unless she was inside. If Puck said so much as a negative word about her room, she would throw him out the window.

_Maybe not the window, too much to repair it. Down the stairs? Too likely to break his neck, and she didn't want his death on her hands, or staircase. Well, she'd make him leave one way or another_.

Letting her bag drop into the crook of her arm, Mouse opened the door and stepped inside. Her TV, Xbox 360 and DVD were in one corner; her desk was near the window, her Mac sitting on top; single bed nearby, and the rest of her room was made up of bookcases.

"You've got a lot of books," he commented, seeing the four bookcases full of various books. "And DVD's. Geez, running your own library here, Mouse?" he added when he'd turned around and saw another two bookcases full of DVD covers. "Your folks must be rich if you bought all those," Puck said, going over to look at them.

"Not really. I borrow them from the library and copy them," she said, coughing slightly.

"That's illegal, naughty little mouse," Puck said with a grin.

"It's not actually... I don't sell them to anyone, and they're for my own personal use, so it's fine," she said defensively.

"How do you know that?"

"The internet, books; you know, more of that reading stuff," Mouse replied, rolling her eyes.

"Uh huh."

"So why did you really come over? You're not going to kiss me, are you? I'm not Rachel, you know, and I won't be fooled by a song."

"How the hell do you know so much about me? You stalking me?" Puck asked, glaring.

She laughed, shaking her head. "Awfully full of yourself, aren't you, Puckerman?" she asked, still laughing. "I have better things to do with my time."

"MOUSIE!" Candy yelled.

"Coming, Candy," Mouse called, leaving her room.

Her brother tended to get into hysterics if he wasn't answered, and the neighbours had already complained about the noise twice, and called the police once. It wasn't Candy's fault that he didn't understand how loud he was.

"How old is Candy? I haven't seen him around school," Puck asked, watching as Mouse changed the DVD over for her brother.

"He's thirteen, and he's home schooled by a tutor," Mouse replied tersely. "Please leave now," she added, suddenly feeling too weary to deal with Puck.

"I don't care that he's not all there, Mouse," Puck said, his voice as soft and caring as was possible for his usual attitude.

"Please, just leave," Mouse replied, not looking away from Candon.

It was as if a light switched on in Puck's head, and he could see everything clearly. In that one moment, he saw how old Mouse looked. Her eyes were dark and had bags under them, a deep inner tiredness shone through her entire body and demeanour, and as she told him to leave, an inner defeat seemed to well up around her and drag her down.

"All right. I'll see you at school tomorrow," Puck murmured, leaving quietly.

...

End of the second chapter. I hope you liked it.

Thanks for reading!

...


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee, or its characters. I only own Mouse.  
**  
Summary:** After being ignored or used for her entire life, Jane "Mouse" Franklin joins Glee Club, and is no longer the singer in the back. It's nothing like what you're thinking. Puck/OC

(a/n: _Thank you to everyone who reviewed, I will reply soon!  
__  
Read on, oh faithful ones!_)

__

...

_Chapter Three_

...

Puck looked for Mouse the next morning. She hadn't turned up for Glee rehearsal before school started, and after the last bell before class rang, and she still hadn't arrived, Puck felt something akin to worry.

He shouldn't worry about her. He never noticed her before this, and if she hadn't sung, he probably still wouldn't have noticed her.

"Don't forget that we've got football practice this afternoon," one of his team mates called out.

"Yeah, I know," Puck replied.

He was just glad the Slushie war was over, and they'd stopped pissing him off about being in Glee. It'd been hard to choose Glee over football practice, but Puck knew that he was on top of his game while he was still in Glee. Without the music, the rhythm, everything was off. Besides, the singing lessons he got from Glee had increased his pool cleaning business almost double.

Puck looked at the empty homeroom one last time, and left for his first class.

...

Mouse couldn't believe that she was sick. It wasn't even winter, she'd just joined Glee, and she was sick! _Stupid immune system wasn't doing what it needed to do_, she thought to herself grumpily as she tried to get back to sleep. She was just lucky her immune system did work fast when she was sick. She'd be better by tomorrow morning, thankfully.

Her mum had come home late the night before; apparently the winning team had taken her out for dinner. Which would have been fine if Sarah had rang to tell Mouse that she'd be home late and not to stay up and worry and leave ten messages on her phone, which had apparently gone dead. But she hadn't, so Mouse had done that for a very long time after putting Candy to bed.

Now, she was exhausted, had a runny nose and a cough. And her mind was going over and over Puck, which didn't help the fact that she wanted to sleep.

He said he didn't care that Candy wasn't "all there" - _two tiny words that meant he was intellectually challenged and had the brain capacity of a six year old_ - but she wouldn't be surprised if the entire school knew about Candy by now, and the football team were currently spray painting 'retard' on her locker... Mouse bristled at the thought. _She hated that word, and to have it on her locker for the rest of the year would probably send her insane_.

"Sweetie? How are you feeling?" Sarah asked, opening the door to check on her daughter.

Mouse pretended that she was asleep, and didn't reply. The only time her mum called her 'sweetie' was when she wanted something. She heard her door close, but still didn't move. Sometimes her mother tricked her by staying in her room to see if Mouse moved after closing the door. When she heard the car start not even five minutes later, Mouse got up and looked out her window to see Sarah pulling out of the driveway in her car.

Pulling her bathrobe around her, Mouse hurried downstairs, coughing miserably at the same time. Wiping her runny nose on her sleeve, she looked around for a note. Seeing it on the kettle, she walked over to it.

_Sweetie, I've gone out to buy lunch. I'll be back soon. Watch after Candon until I get back. Mum_.

If Mouse had actually been asleep and woken up to find this note, she might have believed it, but since it wasn't even 9.30 in the morning, she had to wonder where the _fuck _her mum was going to buy lunch!

Mouse went upstairs again to check on Candon. He was sleeping soundly on his bed, his _Cars_ bedspread falling off. Mouse adjusted the quilt so it was on him properly, then went back to her own bed. Leaving her door open so she'd be able to hear Candy, Mouse fell into an exhausted sleep.

...

"MOUSIE!"

Mouse woke up with a start, her head pounding and her stomach rumbling loudly.

"MOUSIE, MOUSIE!" Candy yelled.

"Coming!" she called back, and his screams stopped abruptly.

She grabbed her robe and ran down stairs, pulling the twisted material on at the same time. _How long had she slept? What if something had happened to Candy? Where the hell was her mother_?!

"Mousie!" Candy said happily, seeing her come into the living room.

The TV was on, and _The Lion King_ was playing. Timon and Puumba were singing _Hakuna Matata_, Candy's favourite song. He sang along with the two animated creatures, looking back at Mouse so she'd join in.

She smiled at him and sang along softly, her throat still sore. When the song finished, Candy returned his attention to the movie, and Mouse hurried through the house. Candy couldn't have put the movie on himself, and Mouse hadn't heard her mother's car return.

"Mum?" she called, just in case she'd slept through it.

Walking into the kitchen, Mouse stared in surprise at who she found there. "How the hell did you get into my house, Puckerman?"

"Your front door was unlocked," Puck replied, shrugging.

"Nice one, Mum," Mouse muttered, then she saw the state of the kitchen. "What happened in here?"

"I think Candy was trying to make himself breakfast," Puck replied, looking at the remaining spilt cereal and milk that he'd been cleaning. "I put the movie on for him and gave him Cornflakes, hope that's all right."

"It's fine... What's the time?" Mouse asked, looking for a clock. "Shouldn't you be at school?" she added.

"It's 12.30, and it's lunch. I can be wherever I like," Puck said. "Why aren't _you_ at school?"

Mouse answered that by coughing into her sleeve.

"You sound like shit, Mouse," Puck muttered.

"Thanks for pointing that out, Captain Obvious," she replied sarcastically, leaving the kitchen to cough some more.

He cleaned up the last bit of mess, and followed her out.

"You didn't have to clean up," Mouse said, wiping her nose with a tissue.

"I clean pools on the weekend, it wasn't that different," Puck said, shrugging.

"Still... Thanks," she said, smiling at him.

"I'll give you the bill tomorrow," he added with a smirk.

Mouse's stomach rumbled loudly, and she went red in embarrassment. "I better get some food myself, and you should get back to school. You won't make it back for your next class if you don't leave now," she said, frowning as she went back into the kitchen.

"It's just Spanish. I told Schue I was coming here," Puck said.

"You came to check up on me?"

"I thought something might have been wrong with Candy," he countered.

Puck went back into the kitchen, to find Mouse bent over a low cupboard. Her bathrobe was riding up, and he noticed that she wasn't wearing any shorts underneath it. She had very nice legs, even with the cellulite. Thoughts of cougars faded to the back of his mind... His mouth was dry, and he licked his equally dry lips. He couldn't look away.

"I know we've got soup here somewhere," Mouse was muttering.

"Wouldn't it be in the pantry?" Puck asked, his mouth still dry.

"It shouldn't be, but I'll check," Mouse said, unaware of how Puck was watching her.

Opening the pantry, she searched the lower shelves, where the soup can should have been shelved.

"Top shelf?" Puck suggested.

So intent on finding her lunch, she didn't realise the rough tone to his voice. Muttering to herself, _Sarah _**_would_**_ do that_, she reached up to the highest shelf and stood on her tiptoes.

"There's a can back there!" she said happily, stretching her arm further to grab the small tin.

Puck fisted his hand and bit his knuckles painfully, trying to redirect his attention from the nice legs and arse Mouse was currently displaying to him. From her current position, he could see that she was wearing a pair of plain blue cotton knickers. _Whoever said that lace was sexier than cotton needed to have their head checked_, he thought.

Then, he thought of his mother's words only last week - _he should settle down with a nice Jewish girl_ - the only reason he'd gone after Rachel, and asked the important question. "Are you Jewish?"

Can in hand, Mouse stood on her feet properly, the robe falling back into place, and turned at his question, a curious look on her face. "Pardon?"

"Are you Jewish?"

"No... Why do you ask?" Mouse asked, then launched into a coughing fit.

"I'd better get back to school, football practice is tonight. Get some rest, Mouse. Glee's on tomorrow," Puck said, leaving the house and leaving Mouse bewildered and confused.

"MOUSIE!" Candon yelled loudly, redirecting her attention.

Mouse went into the living room to help Candy, and hopefully put Puck and his odd behaviour from her mind.

...

End of the third chapter. I hope you liked it.

Thanks for reading!

...


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee or its characters. I only own Mouse, Candy and Sarah.

**Summary:** After being used or ignored for her entire life, Jane "Mouse" Franklin joins Glee Club, and is no longer the singer in the back. It's nothing like what you're thinking. Puck/OC

(a/n: _Thank you to everyone for reading and reviewing!_

_Read on, oh faithful ones!_)

...

_Chapter Four_

...

After her mum had returned home at 2 in the afternoon - without lunch, at that - Mouse had taken cold and flu tablets and gone straight to bed, her bones weary and her head still aching. She refused to think about Puck or his behaviour from earlier that day, and slept for the next sixteen hours straight.

She woke up with a clear head, nose and throat, and thanked her immune system, whatever gods existed for this small miracle, as well as the drug manufacturers for effective tablets and medicines. Then, on seeing that it was past 6 am, Mouse hurried to get ready for school. Glee practice was on at 7 this morning.

She arrived at the auditorium at 7 on the dot to find Puck, Finn, Quinn, Kurt and Rachel already inside. They said their greetings, were all pleased that she was feeling better, and said how they'd missed her voice the day before.

Mouse didn't know if they were lying or not, so she just accepted their words with a shy nod. Puck, she noticed, didn't say anything other than 'hello', but his brown eyes darkened as he watched her. Finding it unnerving, she looked away from his intense gaze, and saw the sheet music sitting on the stage.

"What's that?" Mouse asked.

"Yesterday's song, _Put on your Sunday clothes._ It's from ... " Rachel began to say, her voice authoritative.

"_Hello, Dolly_, I know," Mouse said, smiling at Rachel to appease her put-out look. "_Way out there, beyond this hick town Barnaby, there's a slick town, Barnaby_," she sang, grinning.

"Hey, I know that. It's from _Wall-E_," Finn said, then realised he'd admitted to watching a kids' movie, and coughed slightly, looking embarrassed.

"So that's where you got the cough from, Mouse," Puck said, smirking as he whacked his friend on the back. Hard.

"Ow, no need to hit so hard, Puck," Finn muttered, trying to rub his sore back unsuccessfully.

"Really, Finn, stop embarrassing yourself," Quinn muttered.

"That's not how we're supposed to dance, is it? Because if it is, I'm leaving," Kurt said as he came into the auditorium with Mercedes and Brittany.

Tina arrived soon with Artie, Santana, Matt and Mike. Mr. Schuester wasn't even a minute after them.

"Okay, good to see we're all here. I just made copies of today's song. We're doing one more mash-up, just to see what the new kid's got," he said, grinning at Mouse broadly. "Everyone grab a copy," he added.

They all did so and looked at their assigned lines.

"That's what I'm talkin' bout!" Mercedes said, wiggling her fingers with Kurt's, grinning.

"The church definitely wouldn't approve of this song," Mouse said with a grin of her own.

"Well, we just won't tell them about it. Puck, you're up with Mouse. I want to see some moves, people!"

Puck grinned, and looked to Mike and Matt.

"Ready?" Will asked, pointing to the band.

The band started up, and Matt popped his body as Artie began on his guitar.

"See here's the thing," Puck started, a smug grin on his face.

"This beat is automatic, supersonic, hypnotic, funky fresh," Mouse followed, trying to keep her eyes on the page as well as Puck.

"We have to take our clothes off,

We have to party all night,

And we have to take our clothes off,

To have a good time.

Oh no!" everyone joined in.

Matt popped his body along to the music; he fell to the floor, his knees bent and he pushed himself back up to stand in one smooth movement.

As they sung the first part of the song, Mouse continued with her own lines, raising her voice higher at Will's instructions.

"Work my body, so melodic this beat flows right through my chest.

Everybody, ma and papi came to party, grab somebody,

Work your body, work your body, let me see you 1, 2 step."

"Rock it, don't stop it,  
Everybody get on the floor.  
Crank the party up,  
We about to get it on!" the others sang, Puck continuing to sing his own lines.

He headed over to Mouse, a grin on his face as he danced next to her, moving his body closer and closer to hers.

"Excuse me miss,

I couldn't help but to notice how alone you are.

I dig the attitude and how you're acting like you own the bar,

Got me flashing keys and I don't even own a car.

Like you ain't feeling my charm, because I know you are.

I'm trying to see how your lips feel,

Oh I'm sorry, my name is Travie and I'm pretty much a big deal.

Oh, you've never heard of me?

That sounds absurd to me,

The way you stole my attention was flat out burglary!"

"Let me see ya, 1, 2 step.

I love it when ya, 1, 2 step.

Everybody, 1, 2 step.

We about to get it on," Mouse sang back, moving to match his moves.

Mercedes moved to the front as Mouse and Puck moved to the back of the singers, a bright grin on her face.

"I shake it like jello, make the boys say hello,  
'Cause they know I'm rockin' the beat.  
I know you heard about a lot of great MC's,  
But they ain't got nothing on me.

"Because I'm 5 foot 2, I wanna dance with you,  
And I'm sophisticated fun.  
I eat fillet mignon and I'm nice and young,  
Best believe I'm number one!"

"All right, keep going, and bring in the steps!" Will called out, moving to the very front to demonstrate.

Mike moved next to Mercedes, doing the movements easily. Artie rolled to the middle, popping his hands off his chest as he sang.

"Mouse, Puck, where are you?" Will called. "You're up!"

Everyone else moved to the back, still dancing as Mouse and Puck came to the front.

"It don't matter to me, we can dance slow," Mouse sang, a grin on her face as she danced.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Puck said, nodding his head in time with his words.

"Which ever way the beat drop, our bodies will go."

"I like this," he said, grinning as he looked at her body.

"So swing it over here, Mr. DJ," Mouse sang, refraining from rolling her eyes at him.

"Hey, hey."

"And we will, we will rock you."

"Oh yeah!"

As one group, they all sang the final part, lifting their arms in time with Will's choreography.

"We have to take our clothes off!

We have to party all night!

We have to take our clothes off,

To have a good time!

"Oh yeah!"

Will clapped loudly as the band finished, grinning broadly. "That was awesome, guys! Mouse, where'd you learn to move like that?" Will asked, high-fiving her.

"I didn't learn, I just did it," she replied with a confused shrug.

"Well, keep doing it," he said, still grinning broadly. "Puck, you did awesome. Thought you didn't _bust a move_?" Will asked, laughing.

"I don't bust my moves to _Run DMC_, Schue. There's a difference," Puck replied, smirking.

...

Emma walked into the library, her hands held up in front of her, with her plastic gloves on. She wiped a chair down, making sure to use the small disinfectant towel to pull the chair out first. Taking an ear bud and small bottle of disinfectant out of her pocket, she began to clean the computer keyboard one key at a time.

Mouse watched Miss Pillsbury curiously. She could understand Emma's mysophobia, especially after working in the library for these past few years. _People were disgusting creatures, especially more so with things they didn't own_.

Grabbing a small packet of computer wipes, Mouse headed over to Emma, whose head was bent over the keyboard, cleaning it with a fierce determination.

"Miss Pillsbury?"

Emma's head snapped up and she looked at Mouse with a quick smile. "I'm not in your way, am I?"

"No, not at all. I just these might be quicker at cleaning the keyboard," Mouse offered, smiling back at her as she held out the wipes.

"Oh, that's very sweet of you. Thank you," Emma replied, pulling the small wipe from the packet.

"You're welcome. Would you like me to find something for you?" Mouse offered as Emma went back to cleaning diligently.

Emma looked at the worn keyboard, then at the grubby computer mouse, and finally looked at the dusty monitor warily.

"Yes, please," she murmured, following Mouse to the loans desk. "I'm looking for something for Will... Mr. Schuester. A pregnancy book," Emma said.

"There don't tend to be a lot of those here, actually. The induction of the celibacy club stripped every book relating to sex and pregnancy from the library. We were lucky to keep the dictionaries," Mouse replied, searching the computer database anyway. "There are two books available for staff. The most recent one is dated from the 1960's," she murmured. "Which means it may prescribe medicinal marijuana as a pain relief drug," Mouse said, grinning.

"Oh. That's disappointing," Emma murmured, giving Mouse a quick smile. "You look a little young to be working in here," she said, frowning slightly.

"I go to school here. I volunteer in the library so Ms. Lemay can have her lunch without students hassling her for a stapler," Mouse replied. "I can get you _The Mother of All Pregnancy Books_ by Ann Douglas. Published in 2002."

"That would be perfect! But didn't you just say that we don't have any books on pregnancy?" Emma asked, frowning again.

"Yes, I said that. We still don't have them, but I can get it from another library for you. It's called Inter-Library Loan; it's great, and how I read most of my books since we don't get that many new ones anymore," Mouse said, a bit sourly.

"Oh, okay," Emma said politely, not really understanding all of what Mouse had said, but happy that she was getting what she wanted anyway.

"It should be here by next week, I'll let you know when it's in. Would you like anything else?"

"Are there any books on ... um ..." Emma looked around quickly, making sure no one could hear.

"Marriage?" Mouse guessed.

Emma's eyes widened and she nodded briefly.

"Plenty of those, from the church coincidentally. I'll get the good ones for you," Mouse said, hurrying down the aisles. She returned in a few minutes with four or five books.

"Oh, I don't think I could carry so many books," Emma said nervously.

"We have eco-friendly bags that you can take home for free, and no one can see what you've borrowed," Mouse replied absent-mindedly. "Library card?" she said, smiling at her.

Emma wasn't sure she liked how this school-girl seemed to know the answers to everything she wasn't saying... Handing over the small plastic card, she looked at the books she was about to borrow and felt a bit sick.

"You have these books until the end of the year, Miss Pillsbury. So you'll have plenty of time to get used to the fact that you've borrowed them, and a bit longer to actually read them."

"T-thank you," Emma said, watching as the five books were put into a bright green bag.

"You're welcome. Oh, one word of advice, Miss Pillsbury? Wash your hands before **and** after using them. People are disgusting creatures," Mouse muttered, looking at her dusty hands and wrinkling her nose.

Emma smiled and nodded. She left the library with a small smile, deciding that she liked the young girl at the library after all.

...

"Hey, Mouse! What you doing tonight?" Puck called as he saw her at her locker.

Mouse closed her locker with a bang, her bag over her arm. "Avoiding you, probably," she said sarcastically, smiling brightly to contrast her tone.

"That's harsh. What if I was going to ask you out?"

"You would have done it already, and I would have already rejected you," Mouse replied, turning and heading to the school's exit.

"How about I come over and help you practice for Sectionals?" Puck suggested, following her.

"Well, since you haven't actually asked, I can't say yes or no. And I'm not going to make out with you just because your ears hurt."

Puck didn't know what to say to that. _What the hell did Rachel talk about when she thought no one was listening?_! _She'd just ruined his afternoon, damn it_.

"We can play _Halo 3_ though," Mouse said, grinning at him over her shoulder.

"You mean, I can kick your arse at _Halo 3_, don't you?" Puck replied, smirking.

"You wish, Puckerman!"

He stayed a few steps behind her, watching her arse as she walked out of the building.

"Would you hurry up? Candy's tutor doesn't like being kept late," Mouse called, her own pace speeding up.

Puck cursed under his breath, and lost his fantastic view as his strides hurried to match hers.

"So what sort of things does this tutor do?" he asked as they walked along the streets.

"Teach stuff," Mouse said, rolling her eyes. She sighed, shook her head and answered him properly, "She helps Candy to read, write, and talk properly, then tests him at the end of every week to see how he's progressing. He can almost write his full name," Mouse said, pride in her voice.

"That's really good," Puck said, sounding genuinely pleased.

In his mind, he was wondering how it must be to be thirteen years old and not be able to write your own name. _It would probably be worse than a slushie facial every day_!

"There you are, Jane! I was wondering how long it would take you. Sarah left about ten minutes ago, and gave me this note for you, as if I'm her personal assistant!" Ann, the tutor, said pompously the moment Mouse walked through the door.

"Thank you for passing the note on, Ann. I'll remind Mother to leave notes on the bench for me. How did Candy go today?"

"_Candon_," Ann replied, emphasising his name, and refusing to use his nickname, "is progressing as well as can be hoped for at this stage. I'll be back tomorrow at the same time. Please tell Sarah that her bill's overdue for this month," she said, leaving the house with her nose in the air.

"Mousie!" Candy yelled the moment the door was closed.

"Indoor voice, Candon," Mouse said, imitating Ann.

Candy laughed, putting a finger to his lips to be quieter. "Hello Mousie!" he said, his finger still on his lips.

"Silly Candy-kid," Mouse said fondly, hugging him.

Puck felt a bit uncomfortable. He hadn't hugged his sister, Katie, in almost four months. And even then it was only because it had been her birthday.

"Pucky!" Candy said happily, stroking Puck's mohawk.

"He knows my name?" he asked, too surprised at that to bother about him touching his hair.

"Yeah, he's good with names and faces. And songs," Mouse said, grinning.

"Don't tell the Schuester that, he'll try to get Candy into Glee," Puck muttered.

"I wouldn't let that happen. Want something to eat?" she asked, looking at both of them.

"Yes! Please," Candy added as an afterthought.

"Good manners," Mouse said, happily. "Puck?"

"Sure... Thanks," he added at Mouse's stern look.

"PBJ, PBJ, PBJ!" Candy chanted.

"Oh, I don't know if Mum bought any jam, Candy," Mouse murmured, looking upset.

She hurried into the kitchen to search. Puck followed her in, and remembered how her bathrobe had slid up just the other day. His throat went dry.

"Can I have something to drink? Please," he added before she could glare at him.

"Glasses are in the cupboard there. Tap's over there. Don't have any cordial or soft drinks, sorry. They're bad for Candy," Mouse explained, still looking for the jam. "Ha! There's one right at the back! Please don't be past the used-by date, please, please, please," she begged, pulling the jar out. Using the hem of her shirt to wipe the dust off, Mouse frowned slightly. "What's the date?"

"Third," Puck replied, gulping down his water.

"Due on the fourth. Excellent!"

"Mousie happy!" Candy said. "Excellent is happy!" he said, obviously quoting Ann's words.

"Better put a movie on for you, Candy-kid. Remember what you did to the kitchen last time?" Mouse said, putting the jar on the counter as she led him out to the lounge room.

Puck finished the last of his water, still trying to clear his mind of images of Mouse in a short and flimsy robe...

"_Lion King_!"

"Again? How about ... _Toy Story_?"

There was a moment of silence.

"_Lion King_!"

"First, second or third?"

Another moment of silence.

"Eeny, meeny, miney, tiny mousie! Two," Candy said happily.

Bored now, Puck started to make three peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. He was finished by the time Mouse came back into the kitchen.

"Thanks Puck," Mouse said, feeling guilty that he'd done them up.

He grinned and raised his sandwich in salute, biting into it.

She quickly cut the crust off one of the two remaining sandwiches, and then cut it into four smaller squares. Putting the other sandwich in her mouth, Mouse carried the PBJ squares to her brother on a napkin. He took them happily and with thanks, not looking away from the TV screen.

Biting into the bread, Mouse swallowed the piece, before pausing the movie and waiting for Candy to look at her.

"Puck and I are going upstairs to sing, okay? Call me if something goes wrong. You know what that is, don't you, Candy?"

"Wrong. Bad. Pain. Angry. Mad. Not right. Left," he said, smiling up at her.

"Good! Love you, Candy. Enjoy the Lion King," Mouse murmured, kissing the top of his head.

Candy scrunched his nose, wiping at the top of his head quickly. Poking his tongue out at Mouse, he took another bite of his PBJ square, then looked back to the TV. Pressing the play button, Mouse made sure that Candy would be comfortable before going upstairs with Puck.

"So what song do you want to practice?" Mouse asked, dropping her bag next to her door to keep it open. "What's wrong?" she asked, seeing the odd look on Puck's face.

"You really do love him, don't you?" he asked.

"Of course. He's my brother," Mouse said, confused.

"I have a sister, and I don't love her the way you love Candy. You _actually_ love him like a sister should. I can barely tolerate my sister," he muttered, shaking his head.

"How old is she?" Mouse asked, sitting on her desk chair.

"Twelve."

"Well, that's not surprising then. You'll both grow out of it," she said, grinning at him.

Puck just shook his head at her, wondering what she meant by that. He sat on her bed - the only other seat available - and took his guitar from its case.

"How about this one?" he offered, grinning as he passed the lyrics to her.

"_Smooth_ by Santana and Rob Thomas? You think you're that good on your guitar?" Mouse asked, grinning.

"I can get by," Puck replied, shrugging. "So, that one then?"

Mouse nodded, still grinning.

Puck started the song on the guitar, looking at Mouse as he began to sing.

"Man, it's a hot one,  
Like seven inches from the midday sun.  
Well, I hear you whispering in the words, to melt everyone,  
But you stay so cool.  
My muñequita, my Spanish Harlem, Mona Lisa,  
You're my reason for reason,  
The step in my groove," he sang, grinning at Mouse.

Together, they both sang the next part.

"And if you said this life ain't good enough,  
I would give my world to lift you up.  
I could change my life to better suit your mood,  
'Cause you're so smooth."

Mouse sang the chorus, moving her hips in time with Puck's guitar.

"And it's just like the ocean under the moon,  
Oh, it's the same as the emotion that I get from you.  
You got the kind of lovin' that can be so smooth, yeah,  
Give me your heart, make it real,  
Or else forget about it."

Puck licked his lips, continuing the song.

"But I'll tell you one thing,  
If you would leave it would be a crying shame.  
In every breath and every word,  
I hear your name calling me out.  
Out from the barrio,  
You hear my rhythm on your radio  
You feel the turning of the world, so soft and slow,  
Turning you round... and round."

He almost stopped singing as she continued to dance, turning round at his words.

They both sang again, Puck staring at Mouse as she sang into her deodorant bottle. _How come Rachel had never looked that hot_?

"And if you said this life ain't good enough,  
I would give my world to lift you up.  
I could change my life to better suit your mood,  
'Cause you're so smooth.

"And it's just like the ocean under the moon,  
Oh, it's the same as the emotion that I get from you.  
You got the kind of lovin' that can be so smooth, yeah,  
Give me your heart, make it real,  
Or else forget about it."

Puck stopped playing his guitar, and Mouse stopped singing to look at him curiously.

"Why'd you stop playing?"

"I can't do that next solo guitar part. I haven't played for that long," Puck said, shrugging.

"And you're definitely no Santana," Mouse added with a smirk.

"Thanks," Puck muttered sarcastically.

"You're welcome!" she said cheerfully. "Want something to drink?"

"Sure, thanks," he said. "I'll set up _Halo 3_," he added as she left the room.

"Okay, don't break anything!" Mouse called, going down to the kitchen to get some drinks.

Puck set it up in a couple of minutes, and was bored within twenty seconds of waiting for Mouse to get back. He wanted to rest his hands from playing the guitar, so didn't start the game. Puck was going to kick her arse, and he wanted to be prepared for it.

Going to one of Mouse's bookcases, he saw a whole lot of picture books in piles on the bottom shelf. His eyebrow raised in curiosity, he sat on the ground and pulled one out.

_What on earth was a senior in high school still doing with picture books_? he wondered, flipping through the pages of the book. There were fairies on the pages, something his sister would have enjoyed.

Hearing Mouse coming up the stairs, Puck put the book back on the shelf and went over to the Xbox 360. He couldn't be seen reading a fairy picture book.

"Got anything stronger than water?" he asked as she handed him the drink.

"No," Mouse replied abruptly, sitting on the bed and grabbing a controller.

Puck frowned and sat down next to her. "What's wrong? I was just joking."

Mouse took a deep breath and smiled. "I know... Ready to get your arse kicked?"

"Yeah, right," Puck said, swiping the second controller.

Hand grenade explosions and machine gun sounds filled the air for the next twenty minutes, and it took a while for Mouse to realise that Candy was screaming her name.

"Oh, shit," she swore, throwing the wireless controller on the bed and running downstairs.

"MOUSIE!" Candy was yelling at the top of his lungs.

"I'm here, Candy. It's okay, calm down." Mouse murmured, stroking his head and hugging him. "I'm here. I'm here," she soothed.

"Took you long enough," a voice slurred behind them.

Mouse turned to see her mother sitting on the lounge, a bottle wrapped in brown paper resting loosely from her hand.

"He's been screaming for ... _forever_," she slurred, the remaining drink sloshing in the bottle as she waved her arms around. "What were you doing?"

"Mouse, what's wrong? Is Candy okay?" Puck asked as he came into the lounge room.

Sarah laughed, hiccuping slightly. "Maybe I should ask _who_ you were doing. You fucking slut. You tell me off for screwing around, and then you're off with the town man-whore!"

Keeping Candy to her chest so he couldn't see Sarah like this, Mouse covered his ears too. She closed her eyes for a moment, and wished that Puck wasn't here to witness this.

"All right, Mum. I'm going to take Candy upstairs, and then I'll get you some water."

"I don't want water! Stupid fucking _water_, it's all we ever have in this damned house!" Sarah yelled.

"Well, that's not my fault," Mouse said with a glare.

"No, it's not... It's **his**," Sarah said, pointing at Candy with a look of disgust on her face. "Stupid little dumb _retard_," she leered.

"That's enough! Sit down! NOW!" Mouse yelled.

Sarah fell onto the couch in shock, and even Puck took a step back.

"Like I said, I'm going to take Candy upstairs, and **_then_** I will deal with you. Stay there," she hissed at Sarah, guiding Candy out of the room gently.

Puck didn't know whether to stay downstairs or follow Mouse back upstairs. Sarah started snoring, and shaking his head in disgust, Puck went up to Candy's room. He was met with an onslaught of Disney. _Cars_ bedspread, _Lion King_ posters and pictures, _The Incredibles_ lampshade, _Toy Story_ Woody and Buzz dolls, and even a _Peter Pan_ hat.

"You're such a good boy, Candy. Sleep now, sleep now," Mouse was murmuring to Candy, stroking his hair.

Candy fell asleep within minutes, and Mouse looked over to Puck. He could see her face clearly, and was surprised to see that she wasn't crying. Most girls would have burst into tears over that, but Mouse had a cold hard look in her eyes that almost scared him.

"You 'kay?" he asked.

"Fine. Sorry you had to see that. I think it might be best if you leave," Mouse said softly, not wanting to wake Candy.

"I can help you deal with her," Puck said, flexing his arms.

Mouse closed the door to Candy's room, and laughed shortly. "I've dealt with her since I was ten, Puckerman. I don't need you to step in now." Seeing that she'd insulted his masculinity, she sighed and continued with, "Thanks anyway."

"You were ten years old? Really?" Puck asked as he followed her back downstairs.

"Candy was six years old, had just been diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, and his dad ran off later that week when he realised it was too much for him to handle. Mum started drinking that weekend. She binge drinks, so this doesn't happen constantly," Mouse added, not looking at Puck.

"I'm surprised you haven't burst into tears yet," Puck muttered as he watched her take the bottle from Sarah and tip the contents down the kitchen sink.

"I don't cry easily," she replied stiffly, watching the liquid swirl around and slide down the drain. It probably did the same in Sarah's mouth, going into the same sewer where the mutant crocodiles live.

"Don't wanna get up," Sarah moaned as Mouse shook her awake.

"I know, Mum. Drink this," Mouse said, putting the orange juice in her hand.

Sarah drank the juice obediently, her eyes shut tightly. When she'd finished and had gone back to sleep, Mouse took the glass back to the kitchen.

"You should go back home, Puck. They'll both sleep until tomorrow now, and I'll be fine. We can finish our game later," Mouse said, looking out the kitchen window as she cleaned the glass mechanically.

"Fuck the game, Mouse. What if she decides to get up in the middle of the night and yell at Candy again?"

"Then I'll deal with her the same way I always have. The juice will help settle the alcohol in her stomach. She'll have to sleep off the rest of it," Mouse said, shrugging. "You can go."

Puck refused to go, and shook his head. "Not happening... What did you say he was diagnosed with?" he asked.

"Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. It means that Sarah drank alcohol while she was pregnant with Candy. Because of that, it reduced the size of his brain, put some holes in his brain as well, and he is now mentally retarded," Mouse said. "I **hate** that word, and I really hate what it's become," she snarled.

"Retarded?"

"Yes. It's such a stupid word, and the people that use it as an insult have absolutely no idea what it really means! It's the same as someone saying that another person is gay. The word gay used to mean that someone was happy, but now it means that they love someone of the same sex, and then that meaning is supposed to be insulting! At least they love someone, unlike the dick-heads that insult them," Mouse said.

She realised that she was ranting, but couldn't seem to stop. It looked like Puck was listening at least...

"Sarah knows I hate that word, and she uses it on Candy whenever she's drunk, just to piss me off... I wish he didn't have to go through that. He doesn't know what it means, but he can tell from the look on her face that it's not good. Sometimes, Candy asks if Sarah hates him, and I always have to defend her, and tell him that his own mother really does love him."

Puck was silent for a moment, just watching as she trailed off, gripping the glass tightly in her hand. He took the glass from her, filled it with water and offered it to her.

"You shouldn't have to go through this."

"I don't care about me, I don't care if I have to go through it ten times a week... I'm just worried about Candy getting through it without me if I go to college," Mouse murmured, drinking the water gratefully. She sighed heavily, looking at the glass. Setting it down in the sink, she turned to Puck and smiled briefly. "Sorry for ranting about this to you. I know we're not friends, and you don't care about my problems. But thanks for listening... I'll go get your guitar."

Puck was shocked by her words, and didn't even think of protesting until his bag and guitar were in his hands, but by then he was already outside her house, and she was in the doorway, blocking any attempt he had to get back inside without looking desperate to the busy-body neighbours.

"I'll see you tomorrow at school. Oh, and Noah? Could you not tell anyone about this? Please?" Mouse pleaded.

Puck nodded, then finally found his voice. "Sure you don't want me to stay?" he offered.

"I'm sure. Thanks," Mouse said and closed the door.

With a slight frown, Puck headed home, worried thoughts filling his mind the entire way. He wasn't used to thinking so much, or feeling worry for someone other than himself. He wasn't sure he liked that either were happening.

...

End of the fourth chapter!

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it.

...


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee or its characters. I only own Mouse, Candy and Sarah.

**Summary:** After being used or ignored for her entire life, Jane "Mouse" Franklin joins Glee Club, and is no longer the singer in the back. It's nothing like what you're thinking. Puck/OC

(a/n: _Thank you to everyone for reading and reviewing!_

_Read on, oh faithful ones!_)

...

_Chapter Five_

...

"It's the Schuester! Pick up your phone, pick up your phone!" Will sang, grinning as he crooned into the tiny microphone.

Mouse laughed, talking her phone away from him before he wrote an entire song. Shaking her head with a grin, she added his clip to his contact name in her phone's address book. She handed the phone to Finn, grinning.

"What do I do?" he asked.

"Just say your name, Finn," Quinn sighed, shaking her head next to him.

"Um, okay, this is Finn..." he said, still looking confused.

Kurt winced and snatched the phone off him before Mouse could get it. He deleted the file quickly and held up the phone again.

"That would have been the worst ring tone in the entire world. Say your name again," Kurt said, rolling his eyes.

"Uh, it's Finn," he said uncertainly.

"That's not much better," Mercedes muttered to Kurt, who nodded in agreement.

"It'll do," Mouse said, shrugging. "Thanks, Finn," she said, smiling at him brightly.

"Can I go next?" Rachel asked perkily.

"Sure," Mouse said with a nod.

Kurt handed the phone over. "We're next," he said for himself and Mercedes, a grin on his face.

"It's Rachel, can you please answer your phone?" Rachel sang, adding her song to her contact number.

"Oh, I can give you my favourite ring tone!" Brittany said happily, immediately going through her own phone to find the music file.

"Kurt's calling you, answer your phone!" Kurt sang, grinning as he passed it over to Mercedes.

"Answer your phone, girl! It's Mercedes singin' at ya!"

"Quinn here, answer your phone already," Quinn sang sweetly, ending on an annoyed sigh when she saw Finn attempting to dance along to her.

"It's Artie, Art-Art-Art-Artie, answer!" he beat-boxed, laughing as he passed the phone on to Tina.

"T-t-tina, answer p-p-please," she stammered, looking to Artie with a red face.

"Gotta get-get, gotta get-get, gotta get-get your phone. It's Mike!" he said, reminiscent of the Black Eyed Peas song.

"Matt here, answer the phone!" he sang, shrugging and handing the phone to Santana.

"Answer your phone, answer it now, it's Santana calling and how!" she sang, laughing as she added it to her number.

"I found it!" Brittany squealed.

Tin-like rainbow music filled the air and Mouse shuddered, hoping she'd never have to hear that coming from her phone. "Thanks Brittany. I hope you never have to call me," Mouse said, smiling at her brightly.

The others laughed and Brittany frowned, not understanding the joke.

"My turn," Puck said from behind Mouse, reaching over her shoulder to take the phone from her.

She hoped that she wasn't bright red, and really hoped that Kurt was only looking at her like that because her hair was sticking up like a cockatoo, or something equally embarrassing.

"It's Puck, answer the phone, or I'll come to your house, little mouse," he crooned into the phone, smirking at her.

Kurt walked over, grinning at Mouse. He nudged her sympathetically. "I know how you feel. Unrequited love's a bitch, isn't it?" he said, rolling his eyes.

"I'm sure it is, but I don't know what you're talking about, Kurt," she replied, lying through her teeth.

"_Sure_ you don't. Come to me if you need to bitch. I'm always up for a facial and gossip," Kurt offered, smiling.

"And I'll be there to smash the bastard's car to pieces. No offence, Kurt," Mercedes added.

He shook his head. "None taken. Boys are cruel."

"I like my town with a little drop of poison.

Nobody knows they're linin' up to go insane.

I'm all alone, I smoke my friends down to the filter,

But I feel much cleaner after it rains," the husky voice sang loudly, before being cut off abruptly.

"I really hate that song," Mouse muttered, glaring at her phone.

"Why do you have it on your phone then?" Puck asked, shaking his head.

_If you don't like something, why would you use it, silly little mouse_?

"It's Sarah's ring tone," Mouse said, smirking at his expression.

She opened the text message, a feeling of suspicion and wariness flowing through her as it loaded. Sarah was supposed to be watching Candy this afternoon since Mouse had Glee practice 'til late that night.

_Jane, sweetie. Have a date with Ron Silverman tonight. Look after Candy for me. He's already eaten tea. Don't wait up for me. Mum. P.S. Phone flat, don't try to call_.

"That **bitch**!" Mouse growled, shocking everyone in the auditorium.

"W-what's wr-rong?" Tina asked, frowning.

"I'm sorry, I've got to go home to look after my brother," Mouse said to Mr. Schuester, feeling disappointed and annoyed.

_Her mother knew how much she wanted to be in Glee, damn her_!

"You can bring him here if you like. I'm sure no one would mind," Will said, smiling brightly.

"I don't know," Mouse said uncertainly. "Candon doesn't like the school, and most of the time, he won't even come to the gates," she said.

"The school's not that bad, I'm sure he'll come in if you ask nicely," Will said, grinning.

_He didn't know that Candy had brain problems_, Puck realised, and stepped forward to say something.

"All right, I'll bring him," Mouse said before Puck could say anything.

She hurried from the auditorium, her bag over her shoulder. Puck shook his head, wondering why she'd agreed to Schue's request. _She'd said only two days ago that she didn't want Candy coming to this school_!

Mouse practically ran home. _They were finally going to practice 'Don't stop believing' today, and she really didn't want to miss it! It was probably selfish of her, but she figured Candy would be happy to go for a walk and listen to people singing in an actual theatre-auditorium-thing. He liked musicals, so it should be fine_, she reassured herself.

Cursing Sarah in her mind, Mouse she opened the front door and called out for Candy. He was laying on the lounge room floor, colouring a picture in his colouring book.

"Hey Candy. Want to come listen to me sing with my friends?"

"Pucky?" Candy asked happily, sitting up.

"Yes, Pucky. That's right... Come on, let's put your shoes on, and get your coat," Mouse said, breathing a sigh of relief.

She wrote a quick note for Sarah in case there was some chance she came home before them, and was alone. Both chances were highly doubtful...

Mouse had Candy ready to go in less than five minutes, and she hugged him with a smile, taking his hand as they left the house. She shut and locked the door after her, and walked along the footpath towards the school.

"Good boy. You're going to see where I go every day," Mouse cajoled, holding Candy's hand tighter as they neared the school.

Candy saw the large school gates and started to shake his head quickly. "No, no, no, no!"

"Yes, Candy. It's all right. Please, be good. It's just my friends. No one else. No one to tease you, or be mean. I promise. Come on, that's it. Good," she crooned.

They got to the gates after another ten minutes, and then Candy refused to move further. He was shaking, trembling, and just started to cry when Mouse heard her phone go off.

"_It's Puck, answer your phone, or I'll come to your house, little mouse._"

"Oh, dang," Mouse said, using her free hand to get her phone from her pocket. "Hi Puck."

"Where are you? Schue's starting to freak," Puck muttered, looking down at Will, who was pacing the stage, and had been doing so for five whole minutes now.

"We're stuck outside. Candy just won't come inside. If I can't get him in, then I've got to go home with him. He's so scared, Puck. Oh, Candy-kid, don't cry... We'll sing _Hakuna Matata_ for you," Mouse said to Candy, sighing when he continued to shake. "Tell Schue I'm sorry, and I'll practice at home," she said, sounding and feeling dejected.

"Screw that. We're coming out," Puck said, hanging up the phone. "Hey, Schue! I say we go practice outside," he called, grabbing his guitar and leaving the auditorium without room for discussion.

"All right!" Finn said, grinning as he left with Quinn.

"That does sound nice," Rachel said, hurrying after them.

"Um, well... I guess we're practising outside then," Will said, shaking his head in surprise, holding his hands to indicate the exit.

The rest of the Glee Club hurried outside, Artie staying a bit longer to pack his electric guitar before rolling out with Will.

"See, Candy, there's Puck. Yes, that's good. Stop crying now, sweetie," Mouse murmured, wiping the tears from his face. Holding the tissue to his nose, she gave him a smile. "Elephant trumpet, Candy."

He giggled and blew his nose hard.

"Good little elephant," Mouse said, kissing the top of his head.

He trumpeted loudly, waving ecstatically to Puck.

"Hey, Candy," Puck said, ruffling his hair.

He stayed inside the school grounds, and didn't move out. He started plucking a few strings on his guitar. Grinning and giving Mouse a wink, he started to sing softly.

"Hakuna matata,

What a wonderful phrase!

Hakuna matata,

Ain't no passin' craze!" Puck crooned, walking backwards towards the school.

Mouse understood what he was doing, and started to sing with him, walking into the school grounds.

"Hakuna matata,

It means no worries,

For the rest of your days.

It's our problem-free philosophy!

Hakuna matata," Mouse sang, holding her hand out for Candy to come and join in.

Candy slowly started to walk through the gates, singing with them, taking Mouse's hand.

"Hakuna matata,

What a wonderful phrase!

Hakuna matata,

Ain't no passin' craze!

"It means no worries,

For the rest of your days.

It's our problem-free philosophy!

Hakuna matata," Candy sang happily.

The other Glee club members came out to find them singing, and joined in, looking to each other with shrugs.

"Why, when he was a young warthog!"

"When I was a young warthog!" Puck sang loudly, winking at Candy.

"He found that his aroma lacked a certain appeal,

He could clear the savannah after ev'ry meal."

"I'm a sensitive soul,

Though I seem thick-skinned.

And it hurt, that my friends never stood downwind.

And, oh the shame!"

"He was ashamed!"

"Thought of changing my name!"

"Oh, what's your name?"

"And I got down-hearted

Every time that I..."

"Puumba! Not in front of the kids."

"Oh, sorry!"

Candy giggled when Puck pulled a face at him.

Completely inside the school grounds now, Candy looked around uneasily, holding Mouse's hand tighter. She hugged him again.

"So proud of you, Candy-kid," Mouse murmured.

"Mouse, I'm sorry, I didn't realise he..." Schue began to say, looking really upset.

Loud male laughter interrupted his apology, and they all looked over to see the William McKinley High football team pressed up against the fence that separated the oval from the school. Coach Tanaka had scheduled a non-mandatory practice for that afternoon, and the four footballers had decided to practice for Glee instead.

"Would you look at that little retard?" one of the blonde footballers called out, laughing to his friends.

Mouse immediately covered Candy's ears. _It was bad enough that he got called that by their own mother, but to be called a retard by a complete stranger after she'd just promised he wouldn't get teased_? She gritted her teeth together, and tried to count to ten to cool her anger. Then twenty, and then thirty. It didn't work.

"Come on, guys! Just leave him alone, Kent," Finn called, shaking his head at him.

"Singing with retards as well as a bunch of gay's now, are you, Finn?" Kent yelled back, still laughing.

Something inside Mouse snapped. "Excuse me a moment, Mr. Schue. Puck, please make sure Candy doesn't see this," she said coldly, stalking over to the fence line.

Puck had seen the look on her face, and immediately got Candy's attention, showing him how to play the guitar so he wouldn't see what his sister was going to do. "You're doing great, Candy. Yep, hold that there," Puck said, looking over Candy's shoulder to keep an eye on Mouse.

"Oh, look. They're sending a little girl over," Kent jeered, laughing.

"Shut up, man," his black friend murmured, seeing the look in her eyes.

Kent just laughed harder, and looked Mouse over. "That retard your boyfriend, little girl? Come here, I'll show you what a real man's like," he sneered.

His friends moved back as Mouse moved a bit closer. When she was at the right distance, she smiled at the blonde cruelly, lifted her leg and kicked him hard in the groin, the fence adding to the pain as it whip-lashed back onto him.

"Ooooohhh!" the Glee guys, including Schue, all groaned in a painful unison as he dropped to the ground.

"You little bitch! What did you just do to him?" Tanaka yelled, stalking over to the fence. "Will, get over here and control this bitch!" he yelled, angrily.

"Don't say a damn thing to me, Tanaka, or I'll show Principal Figgins exactly what books you've been borrowing," Mouse threatened.

Ken paled slightly, and turned to his injured footballer. "Get off the ground, you little prick."

"I think we should go inside now, don't you?" Will said, taking Mouse's shoulders and turning her to face the school again.

"Remind me to never make you angry," Puck muttered.

"I won't need to, you'll remember," Mouse replied. She smiled at Candy, who was playing with the guitar strings happily. "Come on, Candy-kid. Let's go inside and sing," she said, taking his hand and leading him calmly to the auditorium.

Everyone stared after her, the sudden change in her attitude frightening.

"That was the scariest thing I've ever seen. **Ever**. And that includes that alien coming out of that guy's stomach in the Alien movie," Finn muttered to Puck as they all went inside.

"I think this is the happiest day of my life," Mercedes sighed. "He just got his arse handed to him!"

"W-with his b-balls," Tina added, giggling.

"They're going to leave us alone now," Mercedes said with a nod as they all entered the auditorium.

"I don't like to rain on your parade, fellow Glee members," Rachel said, "but the jocks may seek retribution for Mouse's recent actions."

They all looked at each other in disappointment, and Mouse went red briefly.

"We'll talk to them," Finn said.

"We won't let them do anything to you," Puck added, Candy's hand slipping into his.

"I'm sorry if it does turn out like that, but I can't be sorry for what I did," Mouse said softly, looking at her brother fondly.

"Good! You shouldn't be! You stood up for yourself, and your brother," Kurt said, smiling at Mouse warmly.

"To be honest guys, you might think that you're all that, but when the time comes to have someone defend and fight for us, I'm standing behind Mouse," Mercedes said, Tina agreeing quickly.

Mouse laughed, hugging Mercedes. "Thanks."

"No problem," she replied. "His name's really Candy?" Mercedes asked, pulling away and raising her eyebrow in disbelief.

"Short for Candon," Mouse said with a nod.

"He's a good singer," Schue murmured, looking at Candy for a moment.

"No way, Schue. I will never allow Candy to come here! You saw what just happened, and that was with **two** teachers present, and not even during school times! Get that thought out of your head this instant!" Mouse said with a slight glare.

"All right, all right! But if you ever change your mind, you know where I am," he said, grinning.

"Duly noted, and then erased permanently," Mouse muttered.

"Mousie!" Candy called out, having climbed onto the stage.

His eyes were bright with excitement as he looked down at them all happily.

"He looks so happy," Quinn murmured, sounding envious.

"He's never seen a stage before, except on TV," Mouse said, waving at Candy.

"Well, he can stay on the stage if he likes. We're a small group, and don't use as much of it as we could," Will murmured. "Candy can sit on the side there, so he can watch. Would he like that?"

"Ask Candy, he talks," Mouse replied.

"Would you like to sit here and watch them all sing?" Will asked, trying not to slow his words down too much and make it sound like he thought Candy was stupid.

"Yes! Please," he added, looking at Mouse with a bright grin.

Mouse helped Candy take his coat off, then went to the others. Sitting on the stage, Candy watched with anticipation as they all lined up, ready to sing. He put his finger to his lips when Mouse looked at him, indicating that he would be quiet. She smiled at him, and started to sing back up for Rachel and Finn, hitting her leg in time with the others.

"Just a small town girl, livin' in a lonely world.

She took the midnight train goin' anywhere," Finn sang, stepping forward.

"Just a city boy, born and raised in South Detroit.

He took the midnight train goin' anywhere," Rachel sang, stepping forward and looking at Finn.

Artie played his guitar, grinning as his music continued the song.

"A singer in a smoky room," Finn said, looking back at Rachel.

"The smell of wine and cheap perfume," Rachel sang, smiling at him and holding out her hand as they both started to sing the next part.

"For a smile they can share the night,

It goes on and on and on and on!" they sang, spinning around each other.

Mouse stepped forward with the others, looking out at the empty stadium.

"Strangers waiting,

Up and down the boulevard,

Their shadows searching in the nights," she sang with everyone, then returned to back up, while Finn and Rachel continued to sing.

"Streetlights, people,

Living just to find emotion,

Hiding somewhere in the nights," Finn sang, playing the drums at the same time.

"Working hard to get my fill,

Everybody wants a thrill," Rachel sang, grinning as she headed over to Finn.

"Payin' anything to roll the dice,

Just one more time," they sang together, continuing.

"Some will win, some will lose,

Some are born to sing the blues,

And now the movie never ends,

It goes on and on and on and on."

Again, Mouse stepped forward with the others.

"Don't stop believin'!"

"Hold on to that feelin'," Finn and Rachel sang.

"Streetlight, people," the Glee Club members sang, repeating the chorus once more.

Moving to a cascade, so they could all be seen, they sang the last line together.

"Don't stop!"

Bowing their heads at the same time the song and music ended, they all breathed heavily, trying to catch their breath.

"Excellent is happy!" Candy yelled, clapping loudly.

Mouse laughed softly, grinning at him.

"I have a question, Mr. Schue," Quinn said, stepping forward.

"Shoot," he said, smiling.

"I think the song's great, and the choreography is okay, but I'm still annoyed at the fact that there's only two lead singers when there's thirteen of us in Glee. Can we change that? I mean, Vocal Adrenaline have a billion singers, and they all have equal singing parts, why can't we?" she asked.

"Good point. I'll think on it. Any other questions?" Will asked. Seeing Candy's hand shoot up, he grinned a little. "Candy?"

"Don't stop believin',

Hold on to that feelin',

Streetlight people," Candy sang sweetly, his face lighting up.

"He really is a good singer, Mouse. Are you sure you won't let him come here?"

"Positive, Mr. Schue," Mouse replied tersely. "He's good at singing because of all the musicals he watches. He can't read lyrics, let alone music notes."

Puck remembered the picture books in Mouse's room, and realised that they were Candy's, not hers. He was glad that he hadn't taken a dig at her for having them.

"Pucky!" Candy called, waving at him from his seat on the stage.

"Hi, Candy," he replied, grinning briefly.

Candy rolled onto his stomach, trailing his fingers along the wood of the stage. He yawned widely, then curled up on his side and fell asleep.

"Lucky basta-" Mercedes said, but Mouse quickly put a hand over her mouth.

"Please don't swear around him, he copies words a lot," Mouse said. "Even ones that are said when you think he's sleeping," she added, grinning slightly.

"Still, he's lucky to be able to sleep that easily," Mercedes muttered.

"Yeah, he is," she said, going over to put his coat over him gently. "He'll sleep through our singing, don't worry," Mouse said, going back to the centre of the stage.

"I'll work on changing the lines later tonight, all right, Quinn? For now, just practice your singing, and take it again from the top!" Schue still called out softly, hoping he wouldn't wake the young boy up.

Candy slept through another four practices, two breaks, and one phone call. Mouse was reluctant to wake him up by the time they finished at 9.30, but knew that he wouldn't be comfortable sleeping on the stage all night.

"Come on, Candy. Time to wake up," she whispered, shaking him gently.

"Sing," he mumbled, not opening his eyes.

"It's time to wake up, little Candy. Time to get up, little Candy. The sun is bright, little Candy. Time to say good morning, little Candy," she sang obligingly, her throat a bit sore.

Candy opened his eyes, smiled at her and sat up a moment later. He yawned sleepily, letting Mouse put his coat on for him.

"Do you want me to drive you and Candy home, Mouse?" Will asked. "He looks too tired to walk," he added, frowning.

Mouse put her arm around Candy, and he immediately moved his head so it was resting on her shoulder. He really did look tired.

"Pucky," Candy murmured with a yawn.

Mouse looked at Puck for a moment, then down to Candy. "Puck doesn't drive yet, Candy. Mr. Schuester's got a nice warm car to take us home in."

"Pucky," Candy repeated.

"It's all right, I can walk you home," Puck offered.

"Are you sure? I don't feel comfortable letting you two walk home alone with Candy as tired as that," Will said.

"If you're that worried, drive after them and make sure nothing happens. But after that phone call from your wife, I'd be more worried about her," Quinn muttered.

"Thank you, Quinn. A very good idea to drive after them," Will said, not replying to her last comment about Terri.

"Won't that look sorta stalker-ish?" Mercedes asked.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine. I can hold Candy up until we get home. I'll call you when I get home safely, how about that, Mr. Schue?" Mouse asked, feeling tired.

"Fine," Will said, but still wasn't very happy about it.

"My dad's here to pick me up. I'll see you all tomorrow," Kurt said, kissing Mercedes' cheeks and waving briefly as he left the auditorium.

"I better get going too," Finn said, rubbing the back of his head as he yawned.

"You're supposed to put your hand over your _mouth_, Finn," Quinn said, shaking her head.

"Oh, sorry," he said, smiling at her sheepishly as they left.

"M-my mum's here. S-see you t-tomorrow," Tina said, leaving as well.

"Pucky," Candy murmured, holding a hand out to him.

Puck glared at Santana and Mike, who were waiting to see what he'd do.

"Go home," he growled at them, meaning two other words entirely.

Puck took Candy's hand, made sure his eyes were closed, and then gave Santana and Mike the finger with his free hand, glaring at them and daring them to say a thing.

"All right, that's enough for one night everyone. Go on home," Will said, shooing them out of the auditorium. "Don't forget to call so I know you're all right!" he added as Mouse left with Candy and Puck.

Mouse watched Puck as they walked out of the school grounds. He was looking around, almost as if he was searching for something, but he didn't seem to mind that he was still holding Candy's hand.

"What's wrong?" she asked softly, trying not to worry Candy.

"Just checking the jocks didn't stay back for an ambush," Puck replied quietly, looking at Candy, who was practically half-asleep between them.

"Ah, don't worry about them. If they attack us, we'll sing them to death," Mouse replied, laughing softly.

Puck looked at her in disbelief, his eyebrow raised and his mouth dropping into a '_what the fuck are you on about_?' expression. His thoughts were the same, but he just shook his head when he saw her grin, and continued to walk long the footpath.

"Looks like you're home safe," Puck muttered as they walked up the driveway to Mouse's house.

They'd practically carried Candy home the last few minutes, as he was too tired to walk by himself. Their arms were interlocked underneath Candy's arms, and he was sleeping lightly between their embrace.

"Might want to rethink that," Mouse replied, sighing heavily as she noticed the lounge room light on.

Sarah had come home before them, and Mouse just hoped that she wasn't with someone again. The last time this had happened, it had been enough to mentally scar Mouse, and she hadn't been able to look at her mother for weeks...

"You look sick," Puck said, frowning at her.

"Sarah's home. I just hope she's alone," Mouse said, shuddering.

Candy woke up at her movement, and he looked at Mouse with tired eyes.

"Sleepy," he said, his head resting on Puck's arm.

"I know, Candy-kid. Let's get you up to bed," Mouse murmured.

She rang the doorbell loudly, and waited a moment. Hearing her mother giggling and a man swearing, Mouse winced. She opened the door, held her free arm up to her face so she wouldn't see anything, and hurried past the lounge room with Puck and Candy.

"Oh, gross. That's one side of Ron Silverman I could've done without seeing," Puck groaned as they went upstairs.

"Don't tell me. I might just throw up," Mouse replied.

They put Candy on his bed, and Puck stood back uncertainly.

"Do you ... uhh ... need help or something?"

"No, I can do this on my own. You've got two options, you can try to leave through the front door and risk permanent mental scarring, or you can escape through my bedroom window," Mouse said. "I suggest the second option," she said.

"Right. Thanks," Puck muttered, leaving the room quickly when Sarah started giggling again.

"Don't worry, I'm disinfecting the lounge room tomorrow, Candy-kid," Mouse muttered. "You might just need to watch Lion King in my room for a few hours."

Candy looked at her, his eyes drooping and his head dropping as he started to fall asleep.

"Come on, let's get you into your PJ's," Mouse said, smiling at him as she took his shoes off carefully. "Want to be Buzz Lightyear?" she asked, showing him his Buzz Lightyear pyjamas.

"To infinity and be... beyond," Candy said happily, yawning.

"That's right. Okay, arms up," Mouse said, helping him take his shirt off.

Candy did as she instructed, and was dressed in his pyjamas within minutes. He fell asleep quickly, his blanket pulled up to his chin.

Mouse turned on the Lion King night-light, closed Candy's door and walked to her room, calling Mr. Schue at the same time.

"Hi, everything all right?" Will asked immediately, seeing her name on the caller ID.

"Fine, Mr. Schue. We're home safe," Mouse said.

"Good. Bring Candy to practice whenever you want. Have a good night. See you at school tomorrow, Mouse," Will said. "No, there's no mouse, Terri! Get off the chair," he said, and the call was cut off.

Mouse laughed, stopping suddenly when she saw that Puck was still in her room.

"I couldn't open the window," he said lamely.

"I locked it. Sorry, forgot about that," Mouse said, getting the small key and unlocking the window. She opened it, a breeze flowing in. "There you go," she said, turning around to face him.

Puck had moved so that he was directly behind her, and he smirked as she squeaked in surprise. He dipped his head, kissing her. Putting his hands on her hips, Puck moved Mouse to the side of the window, then pulled away from her lips.

"Thanks," he said, smirking at her dazed look.

Puck left through the window before she had time to recover or kick him in a very sensitive place.

Mouse wasn't sure what had just happened. _She knew she'd just been kissed... She knew it was very, very nice. But it was _**_Puck_**_ who had kissed her_.

Closing her window and blind, she changed into her pyjamas and went to bed, feeling completely bewildered.

...

End of the fifth chapter! I hope you enjoyed reading it!

...


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee. I only own Mouse, Candy and Sarah.

(a/n: _Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing! I hope you enjoy this chapter._

_Read on, oh faithful ones_...)

...

_Chapter Six_

...

"Katie, get your butt down here! You need to get to school!" Puck's mum yelled.

"I'm coming!" Katie yelled back.

Puck groaned, their shouts waking him up a whole half hour earlier than he was supposed to get up. "Shut up!" he yelled, rolling over and sticking his pillow over his head.

"Don't talk to me like that, Noah Puckerman! Come downstairs and help get your sister ready for school," his mum yelled back.

Puck rolled out of bed with an annoyed groan and pulled a pair of pants on grumpily. "Don't know why I have to help her. She's old enough to get ready herself," he muttered.

Still, he made his way to the kitchen and poured Katie a bowl of cereal. His mum patted his head and smiled up at him.

"Thank you, Noah. Here, I made you a ham sandwich for lunch."

"Thanks, Mum," he muttered. "Katie! What the hell are you doing?" Puck yelled up the staircase.

"Don't yell," Katie said, arriving at the top of the stairs, pushing her foot into her shoe.

"You slept in again, Katie. What's wrong? Are you masturbating already?" their mother asked as Katie came into the kitchen.

Puck shuddered and hit his head against the kitchen door frame, wishing he hadn't just heard that.

"No! Gross, Mum!" Katie yelled, looking horrified. "I had another nightmare," she admitted. "Can I _not_ watch _Schindler's List_ again?" Katie asked, looking up at her mum with wide eyes as she ate her cereal quickly.

"Don't say that, you're dishonouring your Jewish heritage! Now, take your ham sandwich for lunch. We're having Chinese for tea tonight, Noah. I'll get you sweet and sour pork again," their mum said over her shoulder to Puck, bustling Katie out to the car.

"Great. Thanks," Puck muttered, his head still on the door frame from his mother's earlier comment.

He heard his radio alarm turn on upstairs and went up to turn it off.

"You spin me right round, baby, right round, like a record baby, right round, round, round," the song on the radio played loudly.

"Who the fuck changed my radio station?" Puck yelled at the empty house. "Now that song's going to be stuck in my head all damned day," he muttered, switching the alarm off and heading to the shower.

Puck felt his phone vibrating as he walked up to the school. Quickly fishing it out of his pocket, he checked the number before answering.

"Puckerman's Pool Service," he said.

"Hi, Noah. This is Sarah, Jane's mother. I was wondering if you had a time available this afternoon to clean our pool. It's looking a little dirty, and I heard that you were the best," Sarah's voice simpered on the other end.

"Sure, I can come over after school with Mouse," Puck replied.

"No, no. I wouldn't want you to do that. Go home and relax for a while. Can you come over at four?"

"Yeah, I can do that. See you then, Mrs. Franklin," Puck replied.

"I look forward to seeing you, Noah," Sarah said.

Hanging up the call, Puck shook his head. It sounded like Sarah had a cold, and now her call had made him late for his first class. Rushing to his locker, he muttered under his breath.

_This wasn't going to be a good day_...

...

"So, rumour has it that you attacked a jock. Care to comment on this?" Jacob Ben Israel asked as he sidled up next to Mouse.

"No, I wouldn't care to comment on it, and if you come so much as an inch closer to me, you'll be eating the floor, Israel. Move it," she muttered.

_Puck hadn't showed up during homeroom, and he'd been so late to their first class that he'd had to take the furthest seat away from her. She hadn't been able to sit next to him for the entire morning, and now it was lunch time, and she still hadn't seen him!_

_Not only that, but she'd woken up in the early hours of the morning, her mind replaying that kiss over and over until she almost screamed in frustration. And now this annoying little under-sexed prick was hassling her_!

"Feisty, huh? I like a girl with a spine," Jacob replied, leering at her.

"No, you just like girls. That's the only reason you joined the Chastity Club, isn't it?" Mouse replied, glaring at him.

"What can I say? I like the ladies," he said, looking her over.

"Well, they don't like you," Mouse said as she walked past him, stepping on his foot hard and rubbing her heel in just to add to his pain.

"You little bitch!" Jacob cried, hopping on his good foot.

"That's the second time you've been called that this week," Rachel said with a grin as she caught up to Mouse. "I saw what you did, and I just want to say congratulations. It's something I wouldn't have had the guts to do. He would slaughter me online, as well as in the school paper."

"No one reads the school paper, and I know his password, so I can change whatever that creepy little cockroach wants to say about me," Mouse muttered.

"Really?!" Rachel asked excitedly. "Oh, maybe I should go step on his foot too," she mused, laughing lightly.

Kurt joined them as they walked along the corridor to head out for lunch.

"Whose feet are we stepping on? Please don't say mine, I just got these shoes, and they are far too fabulous to be stepped on," Kurt said, looking at his feet.

"They are wonderful shoes, Kurt, but we were talking about stepping on Jacob Ben Israel's feet," Rachel informed him.

"What did that nasty little boy do now?" Mercedes asked, joining them as well.

Mouse sighed and sat down at the table. The others all sat around her, waiting for an answer.

Quinn stood between the jock and cheerleaders table, and their own, looking lost.

"Quinn, come sit down here," Rachel called, giving her a smile. "You'll laugh at what I just witnessed Mouse do to Jacob Ben Israel," she said, grinning.

"I doubt it," Quinn muttered, but sat with them anyway.

"Finn, my boy! Sit over here, man," one of the jocks called out.

"Yeah, you don't want to sit with that little bitch. Kent's balls still haven't dropped," another added, laughing as he high-fived his friend.

"Ugh. What a bunch of apes," Mercedes said, her nose wrinkled in disgust as she glared at them.

Finn came over with Puck, Matt and Mike, ignoring the jocks with a slight look of regret. Puck looked as pissed off as Mouse felt, and she didn't risk saying anything to him in case they started arguing with each other.

"So what happened with Jacob Ben Israel?" Quinn asked, wondering exactly why she was sitting here when Santana and Brittany were sitting at the cheerleaders table.

Just because she wasn't in a uniform anymore didn't mean she should have to sit anywhere else... she thought with a slight frown, and then Santana and Brittany came over to join their boyfriends.

"I stepped on his foot after he pissed me off about kicking what's-his-name yesterday," Mouse said with a sigh, eating her sandwich.

"Did you step on it and rub it in really hard?" Quinn asked, grinning.

"Of course. I know how to step on feet," she replied, smirking.

"Oh, I loathe that boy."

"And guess what? Mouse knows his password," Rachel said, leaning closer so she wouldn't be heard be any eavesdroppers. "This is what I propose..."

Mouse listened, wondering what on earth she'd just got herself into.

...

Almost half an hour later, Jacob Ben Israel's loud, high-pitched scream could be heard throughout the school. In the library, thirteen people were laughing hysterically at the new hot pink and canary yellow website that was once called Jacob Ben Israel's blog.

The header had been changed to say 'GLEE CLUB ROCKS' and every nasty article he'd ever written (there were a lot, surprisingly) had been changed to read about how much Jacob loved the Glee club, and thought about them every hour of every day.

"You won't get into trouble for this, will you?" Kurt asked Mouse in concern.

"No, I changed the IP address so it looks like it's logged in at Sue Sylvester's computer. She won't get into too much trouble either, as no one will believe that she could do this, or would," Mouse replied, pushing her glasses up her nose. "Besides, I'm the school IT person, since Figgins fired the last guy at the end of last year for looking up porn. Right before Christmas, poor guy."

"You can look up porn?" Puck asked, smirking.

Mouse just rolled her eyes and ignored his question.

"You haven't always worn glasses, have you?" Finn asked after a moment of silence.

"No, they're my reading glasses," she replied with a smile.

"Oh good, 'cause I would have felt really bad if you'd been wearing them all this time and I only just noticed."

Mouse shook her head, confused. "Why? You've only noticed me for the past two weeks while I've been in Glee," she said.

"Yeah. Well, you helped me find that football book last month too," Finn said lamely.

"Stop while you're ahead, Finn," Mouse replied.

"So ... What books does Coach Tanaka borrow that he's so scared of Figgins seeing?" Puck asked Mouse quietly, smirking down at her.

She blushed slightly, and could almost feel his lips on hers again. "Can't tell you. There's very strict confidentiality rules."

"Miss Franklin. Exactly **what** are all these people doing in the staff area of the library?" a stern voice asked behind them.

Mouse quickly shut down the internet browser, and turned to get past everyone to face Ms. Lemay.

"I was just showing them all the library catalogue, Ms. Lemay. They wanted to find some new music for Glee Club, and didn't know how to search for the music sheets. I'll just show them where the music section is, then come back and finish my weeding project," Mouse said quickly, hurrying out of the office with her head lowered.

The others practically ran after her.

"Who was that?" Artie asked Mouse softly, rolling after them in terror.

"Ms. Lemay, the school's head librarian. Don't look her in the eyes, she'll turn you to stone," Mouse muttered.

"Sounds like she and Sue would get along," Quinn muttered, Brittany and Santana laughing.

"They hate each other, actually. They can't even be in the same room as each other," Mouse replied. "Music sheets are in this filing cabinet here. They're listed alphabetically by artist. Grab something and come to the front when you're ready to borrow it. Don't forget your library card," she said, almost running back to the office.

Shrugging to each other, they opened the filing cabinet and started to go through it. Free period was after lunch today, so they could spend as long as they wanted in here.

...

Will Schuester paced the auditorium, worrying. All of the Glee kids were late for their after-lunch practice; not one or two, **all** of them.

"Maybe they all got food poisoning," he thought out loud, sounding hopeful.

"Did you say something, Mr. Schue?" one of the jazz band kids asked.

"Oh, nothing," Will replied quickly, smiling. "They'll be here soon!"

After another two minutes of pacing, and a phone call that no one picked up, Will decided to go look for them himself. They couldn't be in that many places...

Five minutes later, he was standing in front of the library doors. He hesitated to go inside. The last time he had - during his job induction - he'd set the alarms off...

Seeing Mouse at the loans desk, handing something to Puck, Will sighed and figured that the rest of the kids would be in there too. Opening the doors, he walked in quickly, hoping the security alarm wouldn't go off again.

"There you all are. The band's waiting in the auditorium for us to practice. Did you all forget?" Will asked.

"Something like that, Mr. Schue," Mouse replied.

They'd all been caught up getting their revenge on Jacob Ben Israel, so Glee practice had completely slipped their minds, even Rachel and Kurt's.

"I thought I recognised your voice," a cold voice came from the library office.

Will froze in fear, his heart beating a hundred miles an hour as he recognised the voice too. He turned around quickly. "Ms. Lemay! A pleasure to see you again," Will said, smiling at her. "I didn't know you still worked here," he said.

"Of course you didn't know, Will Schuester, you haven't stepped foot in this library since ninth grade when you knocked over three whole book shelves and refused to pick them up because you were late for Spanish class."

"That was **you**?" Mouse asked in shock. "Run," she warned under her breath.

"Now, that's not true. I came in here for my induction when I got my job," Will argued, ignoring Mouse's warning.

"You stood at the door and then ran when you set off the alarms!" Ms. Lemay growled.

Will rubbed the back of his head nervously, attempting a smile. "Sorry about that."

"Don't give me that boyish smile, Schuester. That crap doesn't work on me," Lemay sneered.

"Sylvester," Mouse coughed into her hand.

Will raised his eyebrow, wondering what she'd said.

"Sylvester," she coughed a little louder.

"Sylvester? _Oh_... Sue absolutely hates me. I really can't have another person hating me in this school, Ms. Lemay. Is there any way we can let bygones be bygones?" Will asked, smiling again.

"Sue Sylvester hates you?" Ms. Lemay asked, sounding positively delighted.

Mouse hurried to the music area, grabbing Puck's hand, and dragging him along with her.

"Thank goodness... She's always threatened to throw every single book at the person who knocked the shelves over that day. The art section's a bitch to shelve already, and she'd make me put them all away again," Mouse said, sighing in relief.

Puck hardly heard what she said, his eyes fixed on their hands.

"What's happening with Mr. Schue and the dragon lady?" Kurt asked.

"They're both going with the '_an enemy of my enemy is my friend_' thing," Mouse said, sounding happy.

"Y-You're holding P-Puck's hand, Mouse," Tina whispered to her.

Mouse looked down at their hands, then at Puck with a smile. "I guess I am."

_Maybe today wouldn't be so bad after all_, she thought.

Quinn saw that Mouse and Puck were holding hands, and she glowered at them. Neither one noticed, and she left the library a few moments later. Thinking that she was just going to practice in the auditorium, the others all followed her out.

Seeing his students leaving, Will quickly shook Ms. Lemay's hand and left with a bright grin and whistle.

...

Mouse changed her mind about it being a good day the moment she got home. Sarah had been drinking again, she could smell the alcohol the instant she opened the door.

Candy was still in his Buzz Lightyear pyjamas, and crying loudly on the lounge room floor; the TV was at the end of a movie and showing the red, blue, and green coloured lines on the screen.

"Mousie!" he said, hugging her legs when she came in.

"Hi Candy," she murmured distractedly, stroking his hair to stop his tears. "You want to sit here while I go look for Mum?" Mouse asked, sitting him on the lounge and turning the TV over to the cartoons.

Candy hugged his knees to his chest, resting his head on them as he watched the TV.

After checking the kitchen, Mouse hurried upstairs, picking up Candy's toys and clothes along the way. It looked like Sarah had decided dressing Candy was just too difficult today...

"Mum, open your door!" Mouse called, knocking on her bedroom door.

Sarah opened the door, hiccupping. She giggled on seeing Mouse's face. "Serious little Jane. Party-pooper mouse," she slurred.

"Yes, that's me all right. Where's the bottle?" Mouse asked, stepping around her drunk mother to get into her room. "Two bottles? Jesus, Mum! What time did you start?" Mouse muttered, grabbing the bottles and empty glasses.

"Two thirty! I'm not one those drunks who starts at twelve! I have more class than that," Sarah stated matter-of-factly, hiccuping at the end of her sentence.

"Of course you do. Why is Candy still in his pyjamas?" Mouse asked, holding up his clothes.

"He's old enough to dress himself! He should learn to do it himself, and not be mollycoddled by you!" Sarah said, glaring.

Mouse shook her head and went downstairs to empty the bottles down the sink. Sarah followed her, swaying dangerously on her feet. She grabbed the stair rail and made her way downstairs unsteadily.

"You won't even have a drink. You're such a goodie-two-shoes," she sneered at Mouse as she followed her into the kitchen. "I don't know how you got to be like this. You're no daughter of mine."

"Sometimes, I really wish that was true," Mouse said.

Sarah slapped Mouse across the face. "How dare you talk to me that way! I am your mother!"

"Mousie!" Candy called, not hearing their argument.

"What's the little brat want now?" Sarah groaned, heading towards the lounge room.

Mouse grabbed Sarah's arm, her face stinging from the slap. "You are not going out there. I will not let him see you like this again. Stay here."

Mouse went into the lounge room. "Hey, Candy. Let's go to the park and play on the swings for a while," she said to him.

"Swings!" Candy said happily. He stuck his legs out so Mouse could help him get changed. "Mummy too?" he asked.

"No, Mummy will be staying here to sleep. She had her silly drink again," Mouse replied, pulling his jeans on and buttoning them up. "You remember how to put your shirt on?"

At Candy's confident nod, she smiled and left him to put his shirt on, going back into the kitchen after turning the TV off. She poured a large glass of juice for Sarah.

"Drink this, then go upstairs and lie down. You've got netball umpiring tomorrow, and you don't want to be drunk on the court again," Mouse instructed.

Sarah drank the juice without protest.

"I'm taking Candy to the park for an hour or two. I sincerely hope you're asleep by the time we get home. I'll wake you up for dinner," Mouse said, leaving without looking back.

If she had looked back, she might have seen the grin on Sarah's face, and the scheming look in her eyes.

"Ready to go, Candy-kid?" Mouse asked Candy, taking his hand and leaving the house with him.

Sarah waited in the kitchen until she heard the front door close. She looked at the time, and on seeing that it was almost three thirty, she hurried upstairs to change into something better for her four o'clock appointment with Noah Puckerman.

_Hilary from netball had said how good he cleaned her pool all right, and then said how good he was between the sheets. After the extreme disappointment that was Ron Silverman last night, who better than the cougar-town whore to service her needs?_

_It was a plus that her daughter liked him... Maybe she could teach Jane that the world was a cruel place, and men were only after sex. All this stuff she read about romance and love was only a fantasy, and it was high time she learnt that... First, she would destroy her love-fantasy world, and then she would work her way onto destroying this ridiculous Glee club._

Rummaging through her sock drawer, Sarah pulled out one of three flasks that were hiding inside, and took a long swig of the vodka. Jane had emptied two bottles - one supposedly of vodka, and the other of whiskey. Sarah had poured the vodka into the flasks, then refilled most of the bottle with water. She'd drunk about half of the whiskey before Jane had come home from school.

It was easy enough to manipulate Jane, so long as she drank her juice quietly and slurred her speech a bit.

After applying the last of her lipstick, Sarah checked her reflection in appreciation. A black mini skirt and revealing shirt - something Little Miss Goodie-Two-Shoes wouldn't even look at, let alone approve of - and a touch of perfume. Noah Puckerman would be all over her in seconds.

Taking another swig of her vodka, Sarah grinned as the doorbell rang right on four o'clock. Blowing a kiss at her reflection, she headed downstairs to open the door.

...

Mouse felt uneasy all the way to the park. Candy didn't notice, hopping and jumping over the lines in the sidewalk happily, holding onto Mouse's hand.

She knew that Sarah hadn't been completely drunk. Not only did it take more than half a bottle of whiskey and a couple shots of vodka to do that - Mouse knew about the flasks in her mother's drawers - but her acting skills were terrible. _No wonder she'd never made it as an actress_... Mouse thought.

"There has to be a reason she wanted us out of the house, Candy," Mouse murmured to him.

Recognising his name, Candy looked at her curiously, no longer jumping over the lines and cracks.

"Let's go back home. I'll count how many jumps you can do," Mouse said, turning them around only a few metres away from the park.

Candy grinned, and began to jump over the lines again.

"One, two, three, four, five..." Mouse began to count, walking back home quickly.

...

"Noah! What a surprise," Sarah said, smiling at him brightly as she opened the door.

Puck frowned slightly. "You called me here, Mrs. Franklin," he said.

"Oh, of course. Silly me," she said with a giggle. "Come in, come in. I'll show you to the pool."

"Thanks," Puck murmured, stepping inside and following Sarah.

He refused to look to at the lounge room, the room reminding him of Ron Silverman too much. There was no video playing though, and he couldn't hear Candy calling out for Mouse.

"Is Candy here?" Puck asked as he walked into the backyard.

"No. Jane took him to the park half an hour ago. They won't be home for hours," Sarah said, touching Puck's arm, her hand lingering.

Puck pulled away, remembering how she'd treated Mouse and Candy when she'd been drunk. He could smell the alcohol on her breath now, and being this close to her was making him feel sick.

"I better clean your pool and go, Mrs. Franklin," Puck muttered, moving away from her.

Sarah laughed ironically. "Don't tell me you love her too. Oh, that would be too much. You both think love is real!" she said, laughing. "Love isn't real, boy, and you of all people should know that. You've slept with nearly every cougar in town, as well as their daughters... Don't tell me you loved every single one of them?"

Sarah moved closer to him, and Puck moved back into the house again, away from her.

"You don't have a pool, do you?" he asked, sighing.

"Of course not. We don't get alimony like the rest of the cougars. I provide for this family, and that provision doesn't include a pool like the rest of the rich bitches in this town! Bloody sluts; they get married, their husband runs off with their secretary and they get catapulted into the rich kingdom. I get married twice, they both run off, and neither one supports me!"

Sarah knew she was getting off track as she and Puck ended up in the lounge room, but figured that if he felt sorry enough for her, he'd fuck her then.

"All right, Mrs. Franklin..."

"Call me Sarah," she murmured at him, moving that last little distance, and kissing him intently.

Puck's eyes widened and he tried to push her away or pull himself free. Sarah's hand snaked between them and she cupped him between the legs.

"You want this just as much as I need it," she said, just as the front door opened.

"Oh."

That one exclamation was enough to give Puck the strength to pull away from Sarah's mouth completely. By the time he'd untangled her from his body - _how the hell had she got her legs around him like that without him noticing_? - Mouse had already ran from the house with Candy. He ran out after them quickly, ignoring whatever Sarah tried to say to keep him there. Puck had no idea which way they'd run, and he couldn't see Mouse or Candy in any direction.

"Fucking hell," he cursed loudly, hitting his leg in frustration.

Heading towards the park, Puck hoped Mouse would at least give him a chance to explain if he found her.

...

Mouse bit her tongue so she wouldn't cry, and she continued to run. Beside her, Candy thought it was a big game, and ran with her. He hadn't seen their mother wrapped around Puck's body, kissing him.

She knew it wasn't really Puck's fault, and Sarah had probably planned all of it, but she was still upset. Slowing down, Mouse took her phone out with a trembling hand. Dialling a number, she smiled at Candy encouragingly when he looked upset that they'd stopped running. Mouse pointed towards a nearby tree, and Candy walked over to it, looking at the ants climbing up the bark.

"I need to bitch," was the first thing she said, feeling like she was only minutes away from bursting into tears.

"I knew you would," Kurt said with a sigh. "Come on over," he said, giving her his address.

"Candy's with me, is that okay?"

"Of course it is. Mercedes and Tina are with me. I'll get some popcorn ready," Kurt said.

It didn't take long for her to arrive at Kurt's house. Candy went inside with her the moment Kurt's dad opened the door, sensing that his sister was upset over something.

"If I didn't know he was gay, I'd be so happy he had so many girls with him at once," Kurt's dad muttered.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Hummel," Mouse said, a bit sarcastically.

"You too. He's not your boyfriend or something, is he, Kurt?" he asked his son, looking at Candy with a slight frown.

"No, Dad, he's not," Kurt said, rolling his eyes.

"Good to know... You could do better. No offence," he added shortly to Mouse, then left them with their popcorn in the basement-turned-dance-studio.

"No offence?" Mouse muttered sourly.

"Don't worry, it's just his way of dealing with me quitting the football team for Glee," Kurt said, putting a hand on her reassuringly.

"Don't worry, I won't go kick him in the balls," she replied, shrugging his hand off.

"So, who are we bit- ... I mean, who are we saying bad stuff about?" Mercedes asked, remembering about Candy copying words.

"Y-yeah, w-what happened?" Tina asked, sitting on one of Kurt's bean bags.

"Beanie bag!" Candy said happily, sitting on another one.

"Well, he'll be amused for the next hour," Mouse murmured, sighing. The others waited for an explanation, even as they ate the popcorn. "My mum got Candy and I to leave the house after I got home this afternoon, and then when we got back, I found her wrapped around Puck. She was kissing him!"

"Wait, _she_ was kissing _him_? He wasn't kissing her back?" Mercedes asked.

"He wasn't... I know it's not his fault. My mother can be awful most of the time, and she thinks I live in a fantasy world. She probably did this to punish me or something. I just don't want to see him for a few days. It's so embarrassing that she did this to him! I need to calm down," Mouse said, eating the popcorn, feeling miserable.

"Darn. I thought we were going to bitch about boys," Kurt said, sighing in disappointment as he grabbed a handful of popcorn.

"Y-you're r-really just embarrassed f-for him?" Tina asked, sounding surprised.

"You're not pissed," Mercedes said, lowering her voice, "that he had your mum wrapped around him?"

"Yes, I really am embarrassed for him. And my mother is extremely agile, I'm not surprised she was wrapped around him," Mouse replied, starting to laugh, albeit hysterically. "I can't believe she did this to me," she said, sobs racking her body.

She still didn't cry tears, but Kurt, Mercedes and Tina all hugged her anyway.

...

Puck swore for the third time that minute, grabbing his phone and dialling Mouse's number again. He thought it was going to ring out again, and almost hung up on the answering voice by mistake.

"Kurt? What are you doing with Mouse's phone?"

"Mouse doesn't feel inclined to answer at the moment, Puckerman. Give her a few days, and she might forgive you."

"I didn't do anything. Just let me talk to her," Puck said.

"Promise to never throw me in the dumpster for the rest of the year, and I'll see if she wants to talk to you," Kurt said primly. "Oh, and make sure your jock-jerk friends don't either."

"Kurt," Puck growled, getting annoyed.

"Well, do you want to talk to Mouse or not?" Kurt asked, shining his nails on his shirt and looking at them splayed in front of him.

"Fine, I won't. I'll try to talk to the guys. They don't exactly listen to me, or Finn, lately," Puck muttered.

"Oh my God, he agreed," Kurt said, sounding shell-shocked.

"Tell him to stop the slushies in our faces too!" Puck heard Mercedes call out.

"Put. Mouse. On. The. Phone."

"All right, don't get your boxers in a knot!" Kurt said, rolling his eyes with a sigh. "Boxers or briefs?" he asked quickly, laughing as Mouse snatched the phone from him.

"You're lucky I don't know where you live, Hummel," Puck muttered in a threatening tone.

"Nice to hear from you too," Mouse replied sarcastically. "Ignore Kurt, he's high on sugared popcorn," she added, grinning over Kurt as he started to sing and dance with Mercedes and Tina.

"I shouldn't be surprised at that," Puck said, then sighed heavily. "I didn't do anything with your mum. She called me to clean your pool..."

"We don't have one," Mouse said, frowning.

"I know that **now**," Puck said. "And then she kept touching me, and I think she'd been drinking. I really didn't do anything. And I didn't kiss her back! Honest."

"I know, and I believe that you didn't. My mum set it all up; she wanted to hurt me, and she succeeded," Mouse muttered.

"If you knew that, then why didn't you pick up when I called the last two times?" Puck asked.

There was a moment of silence, and Puck was about to repeat his question when Mouse replied.

"They all wanted to hear you sing," she said, shaking her head at the memory, and how the others had swooned over her new ring tone from Puck. "I'm sorry about what Sarah did to you, just give me the weekend to get over the embarrassment, and I'll do the same for you."

"You're embarrassed? And you think I'm embarrassed?" Puck asked, looking at his phone in disbelief.

"... course I'm embarrassed! My mum probably launched herself at you, and in the same room she screwed Ron Silverman in. That's enough embarrassment to last a lifetime!"

"Your mum did Ron Silverman? Oh, that's nasty," Mercedes said, wincing.

"Thanks for the support, Mercedes," Mouse said sarcastically.

"I t-thought S-Sue Sylvester was d-dating him?" Tina asked.

"Oh, I'm going to be sick," Mercedes cried, running from the room with a laugh.

Mouse sighed heavily into the phone, realising that Puck could probably hear all this. "I'll see you on Monday, okay, Puck?"

"Pucky!" Candy called, hearing his name. "Pucky! Sing?" Candy said into the phone, Mouse holding it to his ear.

"_Hey Candy-kid_," Puck sang, wondering what he was supposed to sing.

"No, no, no! Mousie's song," Candy said, grinning happily.

"Oh..." he cleared his throat, and sang again, "It's Puck, answer the phone, or I'll come to your house, little mouse."

Candy giggled happily, clapping his hands.

"I'll write you a better song than that," Puck promised, not realising that Mouse had the phone again.

"You don't have to," she replied. "Have a good weekend, Puck. See you on Monday."

"See you then, Jane," he said, ending the call with a grin.

"Huh," Mouse muttered, looking at her phone in surprise.

"What? Did he confess his undying love for you?" Kurt asked, laughing as he kept dancing.

"No... He called me Jane," Mouse replied.

...

Mouse stayed at Kurt's house that night, borrowing some pyjamas from Tina with the promise to wash them. Candy had to borrow pyjamas from Kurt's dad since he was too tall to fit into Kurt's properly, and Mouse promised to wash them as well.

Kurt set up a double mattress in the lounge room for them to sleep on, and got two pillows and a blanket as well. Candy cried when he realised that he didn't have his Buzz Lightyear pyjamas, and it took almost three hours for Mouse to calm him down.

Later that night, some time after Candy had fallen asleep, Mouse wondered if Sarah even cared that they hadn't gone home yet.

Rolling over, she hugged Candy to her as he whimpered in his sleep.

"It's all right, Candy. I'm here, I'm here," Mouse said softly as she fell asleep herself.

...

End of the sixth chapter!

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it.

...


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee. I only own Mouse, Candy and Sarah.

(a/n: _Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing! I hope you enjoy this chapter.  
__  
Read on, oh faithful ones_...)

...

_Chapter Seven  
_

...

The bright early morning sun woke Mouse up on Sunday, and she sat up quickly, realising that Candy wasn't next to her. Hurrying to put some proper clothes on, Mouse left to find Kurt's dad sitting at the kitchen table, drinking a coffee as he read the newspaper.

"Morning, Mr. Hummel. Do you know where Candy is?" Mouse asked urgently.

"In the studio with Kurt," Burt replied, sipping at his coffee. "Kurt's teaching him how to dance, apparently. Sit down, have something to eat," he offered.

"I'll just go check on Candy. He gets cold easily if he doesn't put his socks on."

"He was wearing socks last I saw. A red and a blue one," he replied, pushing a plate of toast towards her, and nodding to the condiments on the table.

"Oh, okay. Thank you, Mr. Hummel. For the toast and for letting us stay last night. I hope Candy didn't keep you up. I tried to calm him down, but he doesn't like staying in strange places. We'll go back home this afternoon," Mouse said, biting into her toast after spreading peanut butter on it.

"Don't apologise, Mouse," Burt said, sighing. "You can stay here longer, if you need to. Or even when you don't need to... A sleep over... It's still called that, right?" he asked with a frown.

"Yes," Mouse said, grinning slightly.

"Right. One of those then. Both of you, I'm sure Candy would appreciate more dance lessons," he said, sipping his coffee as he returned his attention to the sports page of the newspaper.

"Thank you," she said.

They both sat there in silence until Mouse finished her toast and went down to the basement studio.

"And then you put your leg out like that. Yes, good!" Kurt said, grinning at Candy brightly as he copied the action. "And put it all together, like this," he said, pressing the play music.

Beyonce's _Single Ladies_ started playing, and Kurt started to dance. Candy copied him, his head bopping along to the song as he sang it silently.

"Good morning," Mouse called out.

Candy turned around and ran over to hug her tightly. Kurt sighed at yet another interruption, switching the music off.

"Hello Mouse. I was just teaching Candy how to dance. He's already had breakfast, and wouldn't leave your makeshift bed until I helped him put socks on for some strange reason," Kurt said, simplifying his morning's events.

"He gets cold if he doesn't have his socks on," Mouse explained. "So, how do you do that dance?" she asked with a grin, going to the middle of the floor with Candy.

Kurt smiled brightly and started the song again. "Follow my lead."

...

Sarah muttered under her breath as she got out of bed late on Sunday morning, a hangover absolutely blinding her.

"Jane!" she called, her voice croaky. "Jane, sweetie!" When there was no answer, she stumbled to Jane's room. "Where the hell are you, Jane?" Sarah muttered, opening the door.

Her bed was empty, and as Sarah made her way downstairs to the kitchen, she remembered that Jane had run off with Candon after she'd kissed Noah. They still weren't back at 2 this morning when Sarah had collapsed into bed, the very last of her vodka flask supply running through her system.

"That was fun," she murmured, entering the kitchen. "Now, where's she put the juice?" Sarah said, beginning to rummage through the pantry, cupboard, drawers, and finally the fridge.

Seeing the juice on the door, Sarah pulled it out, feeling triumphant. Drinking from the carton, she kept an eye on the kitchen door. Jane usually came in the moment she was doing something wrong. _Goodie-two-shoes spoil sport_, Sarah thought to herself. She kept drinking, leaving the smallest drop in the carton and replacing it, giggling. _Jane hated it when she did that_.

Unable to find the toaster, Sarah ate a plain piece of bread. Brushing the crumbs onto the floor, she picked her teeth with her fingernail as she walked through the house, double checking her children weren't in there.

Deciding to use this opportunity to her advantage, and since her hangover was almost gone, she went to the lounge room, knowing any extra headache she would get from this would be worth it. Laughing, she headed over to the CD player, putting in a CD that hadn't been used in months.

"Just take those old records off the shelf,

I'll sit and listen to 'em by myself!

Today's music ain't got the same soul,

I like that old time rock 'n' roll.

"Don't try to take me to a disco,

You'll never even get me out on the floor.

In ten minutes I'll be late for the floor.

I like that old time rock 'n' roll."

The door bell rang twice, and Sarah paused the CD to go and answer it.

"Took you long ... Oh, you're not Jane. Hello there," she said in a sultry voice, looking over the man on her doorstep.

_Blue eyes, curly hair, cute as a button... she recognised him from somewhere, didn't she_?

"Good morning, Mrs. Franklin. I'm sorry to bother you on a Sunday morning, I was just wondering if Mouse... I mean, Jane... was in? I'm Mr. Schuester, Jane's Spanish teacher and co-director of _New Directions_," Will introduced, smiling at her.

_That's right. Terri's husband. She was a jealous bitch, which meant he was off limits sexually, but that didn't mean Sarah couldn't ogle him for a while_.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Schuester, they've just gone out for the morning. Is there anything I can help you with?"

Will surveyed the woman in front of him for a moment. He'd heard Bob Segal's _Old Time Rock and Roll_ only seconds ago, which meant she had good taste in music, and she'd been singing her lungs out, which explained where Mouse and Candy got their musical talent from.

"You might be able to help me, actually, Mrs. Franklin," he replied, his smile getting brighter.

"Please, call me Sarah," she replied, opening the door further and stepping back to let him inside.

"Will, Will Schuester," he replied, entering the house.

With a grin, Sarah closed the door behind him, and watched Will's arse as he walked to the lounge room.

"So, what can I help you with, Will?" Sarah asked as she followed him.

"I actually came to talk to Jane to see if she'd change her mind about letting Candy sing with her in _New Directions_," Will replied, sitting down.

"Would you like something to drink?"

"Oh, a water would be great. Thanks," he said, smiling.

Sarah went into the kitchen, pulling a face. _Water, ugh_...

"Why would you want Candon to sing for you? Is it even possible if he doesn't attend McKinley High?" Sarah asked, handing him his water.

"Well, I don't know if you've heard Candy sing. You probably have, you're his mother after all... But he is an excellent singer and has such a pure voice. With a voice like that, he could sell millions," Will mused, sipping his water.

If it was humanly possible, dollar signs would have appeared in Sarah's eyes.

"Do go on," she said, sitting forward attentively.

...

Mouse held Candy's hand as they walked back home. He was humming _Single Ladies_ loudly, stepping in time with the music.

It took them longer to get home than it should have, and Mouse was surprised but grateful that Sarah wasn't home when they arrived. She didn't want to have to deal with her just yet.

"Buzz!" Candy called happily when they went inside.

Letting go of Mouse's hand, he ran upstairs to get his pyjamas.

"You want a bubble bath before you get into your pyjamas, Candy?" Mouse called after him.

"Yes! Please!"

As Mouse walked past the lounge room, she noticed that the CD player was blinking on pause. Pressing play, _Old Time Rock and Roll_ started, and Mouse frowned as she took the CD out and put it away where it belonged.

Her mother hardly ever left the house without finishing the dance and song routine for that song. To have it on pause near the very beginning was very odd behaviour for Sarah...

Then she heard the tap running upstairs, and quickly ran up to help Candy before he burned himself on the hot water, the CD no longer in her mind.

...

"This is fairly quick, Mrs. Franklin. Are you sure you don't want to discuss it with Jane and Candy first?" Will asked as he handed her the paperwork for a new student.

"Nonsense. I'm their mother, and I know what's best for them," Sarah said, as she filled out the form, signing her name at the bottom. "And I told you to call me Sarah," she added charmingly, smiling at him.

"Of course, Sarah. Well, it's always a pleasure to have new students at William McKinley High. I'll make sure Candy gets the best possible reception from the teachers and his fellow students," Will said, smiling as he took the papers back and put them in his _In Tray_ to be processed tomorrow morning when the school administrative staff were actually there.

"That's all fine. How long will it take before Candon can come here? I'm sure he'll be very excited when I tell him he'll be attending school with his sister. They dote on each other a lot, especially for half-siblings," Sarah said with a light laugh.

"They do seem close," he acknowledged, smiling. "It will take two or three weeks for everything to be completely processed, and Candy's daily timetable to be organised."

"Sounds great! Thank you very much, Will. I look forward to seeing you at the next teacher-parent interview. Say hi to Terri for me," she added, her hand lingering on his arm.

"Oh, I will. I didn't know that you and Terri knew each other," he said as he left his office with her.

"I know every woman in this town, and they all know me," Sarah replied, grinning.

Will nodded, not sure whether he should be impressed or worried at that fact. That was a lot of women to know... Shaking his head, he opened the exit for her and watched as Sarah walked back to her house with a spring in her step.

It wasn't until later that night, as he talked with Terri, that Will started to seriously doubt what he'd done. Dinner was over and he was brushing his teeth, when he remembered that Sarah said to say hello to Terri.

"Oh, Sarah says hi," he said through a mouthful of toothpaste and spit.

"Will! Spit and _then_ talk. You're like a child," Terri admonished, frowning at him.

"Sarah said to say hi to you," Will repeated after emptying his mouth.

"Sarah who, Will?" Terri asked, sounding exasperated.

"Sarah Franklin."

"That bitch said to say hi to me? What nerve!" Terri announced, immediately storming out of the bathroom.

Will stared after his wife in shock. Terri **_never_** swore. Walking after her, toothbrush still in hand, Will followed her into the crafts-turned-nursery-room.

"Terri?"

"What, Will?"

"Well, I'd like to know what _that_ was all about to start off with!"

Terri folded her arms and looked down at her stomach, a tear in her eye.

"She insinuated that I wasn't pregnant, because I wasn't the right size. Sarah was drunk at the time, of course, like always... She thinks she knows best just because she's had two children, and I don't think that's fair! Every woman goes through their pregnancy differently. It's not my fault she was the size of a house when she was pregnant!" Terri said, sniffing back tears.

Will took a moment to process all of this. "What do you mean, drunk like always?" he asked, looking down at the baby blanket sitting on the chest of drawers next to him.

"I _mean_, that evil two-faced bitch is an alcoholic. I thought I was making perfect sense, Will. You're not listening to me anymore!" Terri said, getting emotional again.

"I always listen to you, babe," he murmured, his toothbrush hanging from his hand limply.

"She's reportedly the town whore as well. I don't usually take any mind of local gossip, as you very well know, but there are some very reputable sources saying the same thing. She didn't touch you, did she?" Terri asked quickly, snatching the baby blanket away from him.

Will felt like he was going to be sick, and with a green face, ran from the nursery and up to the bathroom.

"I hope you don't expect me to clean up after you, Will! I'm carrying our child, and can't bend to clean!" Terri called.

...

End of the seventh chapter! Hope you enjoyed it!

...


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee. I only own Mouse, Candy and Sarah.

(a/n: _Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing!_

_I hope you enjoy this chapter - this is where it begins to skew from the original TV show, hope you still enjoy it!_

_**Warnings**: Explicit language,  
__  
Please remember that if you want a reply to your review, you NEED to sign in. I can't reply to every unsigned review on here - it would take up more room than the story itself!  
__  
Read on, oh faithful ones_...)

__

...

___Chapter Eight  
_

...

Jacob Ben Israel walked along the school hallways early Monday morning. He'd come in extra early so he could fix the abomination that was now his blog. _His blog had been something serious and important in the high school world, and after just one day, they'd turned him into a farce, the school's biggest joke_!

Jacob promised to himself that he would exact his revenge, and do it in the most humiliating way possible...

"Have you seen this about Josh Groban? Apparently he's run off with some homely woman," he heard a girl whisper as he entered the computer room.

"I know, I read about it on Twitter," another girl replied, giggling. "He's put a picture up of her. She's disgusting," she said, now sounding horrified.

"Ohmigod! Really? You have to show me," the first said, laughing.

From the doorway, unnoticed, Jacob watched as the picture of a large-busted woman loaded on the internet browser. He smiled cruelly as he recognised the woman in the photograph as Mr. Schuester's mother.

He'd just discovered his revenge, and by the time recess came around, Jacob Ben Israel would be the name on everyone's lips as he broke to them the most important news feed of the teenage world...

Going into the room, Jacob brought out his video camera. _Girls were always more responsive when he had his camera, as if they thought Hollywood would see them and immediately snatch them out of this hole they had the nerve to call a town_, Jacob thought in disgust, looking at the rotting high school sign that was directly outside of the window.

"Good morning ladies..." he said, sidling up between them, getting his camera ready. "Do tell me more about this information with Josh Groban and his new lover," he murmured, turning the camera on. "You'll get your names sourced as references, of course," Jacob added when they looked dubious.

At that titbit, they both grinned and started to talk to the camera lens enthusiastically.

...

Mouse hurried along the school corridors, clutching an early pre-print of the school newspaper. Jacob was trying to get his revenge on them, and the moment this paper got out among the teenagers, his revenge would be complete. Both Mr. Schue and Glee would be shot, and then drowned for good measure. She couldn't let that happen to either...

Knocking on Schue's office door, she breathed a sigh of relief when he opened it immediately, sipping his coffee.

"Good morning, Mouse. What's wrong?" Will asked, the coffee swirling in his stomach unpleasantly as Terri's words from the night before ran through his head.

"I wanted to talk to you about this before anyone else found out," Mouse began.

"I think I know what you're going to say Mouse, and I just want to let you know that I'll do my best to look after him, and I'll make sure that no one teases him," Will said quickly.

Mouse stopped talking, frowning deeply at his words. "What are you talking about?"

"Uhh... Candy attending McKinley High in two weeks," he replied, getting the feeling that he'd just dug himself into an early grave.

Will crossed his legs protectively as he handed Candy's student papers over to Mouse.

"Sarah didn't tell you? I came over yesterday to talk to you about this very thing actually, and you weren't home. But I got talking with your mum, and she thought letting Candy come here was such an excellent idea that she came to sign the papers immediately," he said.

Mouse was silent for a long time as she looked down at the student papers, Sarah's messy signature scrawled at the bottom.

Will started to get very uncomfortable but didn't dare uncross his legs. He loosened his tie slightly, feeling as though it was attempting to strangle him.

"Mouse?" he ventured after another few moments of silence. "Jane?"

She looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "I can't believe you did this, Mr. Schue... I came here to show you _this_," Mouse said, throwing the school newspaper at him forcefully. "And offer my help to get it destroyed before anyone else saw. But after doing this to Candy and me, you deserve every single thing that will happen to you. And in case you wouldn't already know, I **quit** Glee," she said, dumping the student forms on his desk as she left his office.

Will looked at the newspaper in confusion, and as comprehension dawned over his face, he realised that he did deserve it, and so much more.

"Fuck," he cursed, kicking his wastepaper bin across the room.

...

Puck was worried about Mouse. She looked like she'd been crying during class, and she wasn't in the library at lunch. Ms. Lemay said it was women's troubles and for him to leave her alone, but Puck wasn't sure it was that... _Surely she would have at least told him, or said something along the lines so he wouldn't feel like throwing up his lunch_?

"Mercedes, have you seen Mouse?" Puck asked her, a frown on his face as he found her outside with Tina and Artie.

"She's with Kurt in the ladies room. Has been all lunch. I wouldn't go in there, Puck," she added as he went back into the school building.

Ignoring her warning, Puck searched three different bathrooms before finding the one she was in with Kurt. Mouse was sitting on the ground, her knees up to her chest as she sobbed into her hands. Puck gritted his teeth and balled his fists, ready to seriously maim whoever the fuck had made her cry.

Kurt just looked up at Puck and shook his head, leading him out of the ladies bathroom gently.

"Who the fuck made her cry?" Puck hissed, his teeth still clenched in anger. "It wasn't me? I mean, she said she knew it was Sarah..." he said, some of his anger disappearing as his uncertainty arrived.

"It's definitely not you. Don't worry about that, Puck," Kurt muttered, his eyes flicking back to the bathroom door.

"Then who was it? I'll get Mr. Schue, and he could probably expel them or something for upsetting her. She's in Glee after all," Puck said, starting towards the bathroom door again.

"I wouldn't suggest that, Puckerman," Kurt replied seriously, making Puck stop and look back at him. "It was Schue who made her cry. He and Sarah have organised for Candy to attend McKinley High, just so he can sing in Glee... Mouse quit the club this morning."

"What? But... She loves singing," Puck said, utterly confused.

"I know. And the worst of it is, she saved Schue and Glee from complete destruction, even after what he did," Kurt replied, offering him one of the few remaining school newspapers.

The rest had been burned in the school's incinerator almost as fast as they'd come out of the photocopier. The same fate happened to Jacob Ben Israel's video recording, and his left shoe for resisting her.

Puck looked at the newspaper, and his anger returned, increasing quickly. _He wondered if he'd get expelled for punching a teacher when they really, really, _**_really_**_ deserved it_...

...

At Mouse's insistence, Puck didn't hurt Mr. Schuester. She didn't want Puck to be expelled - _you could be expelled, even if they deserved it, apparently_ - and Mouse promised to leave the bathroom so long as he didn't do anything to Schuester.

It was a difficult promise to make, but he hated how small and weak she looked, curled up on the bathroom floor. He promised and since then, Puck had been walking around the school with a ball of anger inside him, ready to explode at the slightest thing. He kept telling himself that he had football practice that night, and could release it as he practised his tackling.

The end of the day couldn't come quick enough for Puck, and he practically ran to the footballer's change rooms, eager to let the anger out. Out on the field, he saw that Coach Tanaka had already set out the ladder and tires for them to run and jog over.

Puck warmed up quickly, and went over to the ladder, a beat already running through his head as his feet stepped between each rung on the ladder on the grass. As he ran over the tires, he started to sing along to the beat softly, and then returned to the ladder, each drum in his ears matching the pounding of his feet.

"There's a drumming noise inside my head,  
That starts when you're around.  
I swear that you could hear it,  
It makes such an almighty sound.

"There's a drumming noise inside my head,  
That throws me to the ground.  
I swear that you should hear it,  
It makes such an almighty sound.

"Louder than sirens,  
Louder than bells,  
Sweeter than heaven,  
And hotter than hell.

"I ran to a tower where the church bells chime,  
I hoped that they would clear my mind.  
They left a ringing in my ear,  
But that drum's still beating loud and clear.

"Louder than sirens,  
Louder than bells.  
Sweeter than heaven,  
And hotter than hell..."

"Hey, Puck. Where'd you hear that song?" Finn asked as he came up beside him, joining in the ladder run.

"Radio, where else?" Puck muttered, rolling his eyes as he pulled his helmet over his head.

_He didn't want to deal with anyone today. He just wanted to let this damn anger out_.

_I run to the river and dive straight in,  
I pray that the water will drown out the din.  
But as the water fills my mouth,  
__It couldn't wash the echoes out_...

"That little bitch deserves anything we do to her. I still can't feel my balls!" a voice came from behind Puck.

His teeth immediately grated together, and he clenched his fist as his team mate's words got more crass with every passing moment.

"And did you see that little retard? I think the boy was looking at Rachel a bit too much, don't you? Hey, Puck! You might have some competition against that little retard! Or should I be telling Finn that?" Kent called out, laughing.

_As I move my feet towards your body,  
I can hear this beat it fills my head up,  
And gets louder and louder,  
__It fills my head up and gets louder and louder_.

_I swallow the sound and it swallows me whole,  
Till there's nothing left inside my soul.  
As empty as that beating drum,  
__But the sound has just begun_...

Puck saw red and immediately turned on Kent, jumping on him so he fell to the ground hard. The beat in Puck's head matched the sound his fists made against the ribs of the fucking bastard beneath him.

_He was only picking on Candy because he thought there was no one here to defend him. Well, he was damned wrong_.

"Get off him, Puckerman!" Tanaka's voice was yelling.

Ken grabbed Puck by the helmet, pulling him off his wide receiver with some effort.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, Puckerman? You. Do. Not. Attack. Your. Team. Mates!" Tanaka said, still holding Puck's helmet as he shook him harshly.

"Get your fucking hands off me, Tanaka," Puck said, glaring at him even through the helmet.

Tanaka let go of Puck, and turned to the footballer lying on the ground. "What the fuck are you doing, Kent?! You just got kicked in the gonads for fuck's sakes! Why the fuck would you do this now? You need to be able to run, dammit!" Tanaka said, barely able to stop himself from landing his boot into Kent's side. "Get up!"

Kent rolled onto his side and groaned in pain. He was ignored, and left to get up on his own.

"On your knees, boys!" Tanaka yelled. "You too, Puckerman," he added when Puck looked ready to leave.

Puck glared, but dropped to one knee with the others.

"I want an explanation. Right now!" Ken yelled, glaring down at all of them. "Is this because of Glee?" he snarled, looking at Puck.

"No, sir," he replied sourly, glaring over at Kent, who wasn't able to bend and was sitting on the grass instead.

"Well? Then why the hell are you beating up on my wide receiver? _Your_ team mate?" Ken asked, spitting his words out.

_Because he's a fucking arse hole that's beating on people smaller than him_, Puck replied silently, glaring down at the ground. He couldn't say that because up until last week, before getting a slushie facial, he'd probably have done the exact same thing. He'd changed now. Humiliation was something new to him, and it was something he hated... Puck didn't want to go through that anymore, or put others that didn't deserve the humiliation through it either.

"I'm waiting for your answer, Puckerman, and it hadn't better be a fucking good one," Ken said angrily.

"I wanted to humiliate him, Coach, so he could see what it felt like. I didn't exactly have a slushie handy," Puck replied sarcastically.

"You want to humiliate him? Fine, you'll all be humiliated then... Get up and give me laps around the oval. RIGHT NOW!" Ken yelled when one or two of the team groaned in protest.

"Nice one, Puck," one of the guys muttered, hitting him on the upside of the head as he started to jog past.

"Screw you," Puck growled.

A fence over, the cheerleaders were practising. Well, they had been. The moment Puck had jumped on Kent, they'd all stopped to watch. Even Sue was watching them, eager to get information to crush people under her fist. Quinn was watching for a very different reason, her eyes on Puck as he beat Kent to a pulp.

...

"You'll regret burning all of my papers, Jane Franklin, I'll make sure of it! I was going to be the most talked about journalist by the end of the day!" Jacob was saying loudly.

Mouse just ignored him, continuing to do her job in the library. She had more important things to worry about than stupid juvenile threats from this little brat.

"Ah, Mr. Israel... I thought I told you to never set foot in the library again?" Ms. Lemay snarled, grabbing Jacob by the scruff of the neck.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Lemay. How's the ex-husband going with his new wife? She's twenty years younger than you, isn't she?" Jacob asked with a sneer, even as he was almost literally thrown out of the library.

"Oh, he hit Sylvester! Take that, you flat-chested bitch!" Ms. Lemay called out, laughing when Sue smacked Jacob on the head for running into her. "Two for the price of one. This is a good day," she breathed, a broad grin on her face. "What are you looking at?" she snarled at two freshmen.

"Nothing, Ms. Lemay!" they replied quickly, leaving the library.

"Jane, I want you to help Mr. Schuester with this Glee thing. I want Sue to quit as co-director. No student should have to put up with her, even the ones in Glee," Ms. Lemay said.

Mouse froze, halfway through ripping a page from a book. _Ms. Lemay didn't know what Schue had done_...

"I'm not in Glee anymore, Ms. Lemay," she replied quietly, feeling sick.

"What did that curly-haired bastard do now?" Ms. Lemay snarled, sitting across from Mouse.

...

The next day, Mouse called Emma to tell her that her book was available to collect after the lunch bell. Not even two minutes after the bell had rung, Emma was waiting outside of the library doors. _It usually took five minutes to get from Miss Pillsbury's office to the library_, Mouse thought, shaking her head.

"Thank you again, Jane," Emma said happily, when the book had been loaned to her, clutching it to her chest. After wiping it down, of course.

"You're welcome, Miss Pillsbury. It's due back in four weeks, but I might be able to get an extension on it if you need one... How are you going with the other books you borrowed?" Mouse asked, smiling.

Emma paled slightly, and looked at the book in her hands nervously, smoothing an invisible wrinkle on the cover.

"Haven't looked at them yet?" Mouse ventured a guess, grinning.

"Not as such," Emma said, a deep breath heaving her chest.

"That's all right. I'm sure you will when you're ready... Or you can just think about something else when you take them out of the bag, and focus on that until you read the first page. They really are good books, and nothing about that huge traditional wedding stuff," she replied, smiling.

"Oh, that's good. I don't like traditional ones, really," Emma said, smoothing out more book wrinkles that weren't there.

"Excuse me, can I get served now? I've been waiting here forever," a voice muttered behind Emma.

She jumped slightly, not having heard anyone, and also immediately worried that he'd heard what they'd been talking about.

"You just walked in, Kent... The testicular books are over there," Mouse said sarcastically, easing Emma's fear at the same time. If he'd just walked in, he wouldn't have heard the word _wedding_.

"Fuck you," the blonde snarled, then went over to the section anyway.

"Oh my, what was that about?" Emma asked in surprise, looking from Kent's slowly retreating figure to the smirk on Jane's face.

"I kicked him in the groin a few days ago. That bruise on his face is new though," Mouse muttered.

"You kicked him in the groin?!" she asked, shock written on every part of her pale face. "Perhaps you'd better come to my office, Jane."

"I'm all right, thanks, Miss Pillsbury," Mouse replied briefly.

She didn't want to talk about it, because if she did Mouse knew she'd inevitably bring up what Mr. Schue had organised for Candy, and she didn't want to ruin Emma's white-knight-in-shining-armour version of Will.

"I wasn't asking, Jane. I'll schedule an appointment for tomorrow before Glee practice," Emma replied, bringing out a small diary.

"I'm not in Glee anymore, Miss Pillsbury," Mouse said for the second time in as many days. "Excuse me, I have another customer to serve," Mouse said, looking to Quinn who was standing behind Emma patiently.

"After school then. I'll see you at 3.10, Jane," Emma replied, leaving the library.

Kent left a moment after her, and glared over at Mouse as he left the library slowly.

"Hi, Quinn. What can I help you with?" Mouse asked, giving the ex-cheerleader a smile.

"I want you to stay away from Puck," Quinn said, glaring at Mouse.

"I beg your pardon?" she asked in surprise, her smile fading.

"Stay away from Puck, Mouse. He loves me, not you," she replied, looking her up and down in disgust. "Puck belong with me. I'm carrying his child, after all..."

"What?" Finn's voice seemed to echo in the quiet library.

Quinn spun to face him, her face pale. "Finn! What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Puck wanted me to give this to Mouse. That Israel kid printed an article about her brother, and said for everyone to tease him. Puck's holding him at his locker with the others..." Finn replied absent-mindedly, still in shock about Quinn's news.

Now it was Mouse's turn to be in shock. "He did **what**?! Give me that paper," Mouse said, her attention diverted as she read the headline of the article.

RETARD TO ATTEND McKINLEY HIGH SOON!

_She was going to kill Jacob Ben Israel, and she was going to do it slowly_...

Mouse didn't pay much attention as Finn left the library, too busy plotting the Jewish boy's torture in her head. She did notice when Quinn started to cry and went to run after Finn.

"Quinn?" Mouse called, the blonde stopping at the doors to look back at her with tear-filled eyes. "In eight months, after you've given that baby to Mrs. Schuester, what do you think will happen?"

Quinn began to answer, but stopped short, both because she couldn't think of an answer, and because Mouse continued to talk...

"School will be finishing; exams will be starting; the cheerleaders won't even look at you, let alone take you back, no matter what Santana and Brittany promise; and trust me, if you keep pushing everyone away like this, you'll end up alone... And you'll probably be stuck in this town, which is what you fear the most, isn't it?"

Quinn was going to say something scathing in return. But again, her normally-smart-brain failed her. She ran out of the library then, crying from Mouse's words more than Finn finding out about the baby's real father.

Mouse stuck the newspaper article to the front door, locked it and left to find Puck. Ms. Lemay would understand the moment she saw the article, that Mouse knew. She just hoped that Finn hadn't gone straight to Puck, and then she hoped that Puck hadn't killed Jacob without her there to watch the bastard squirm...

...

Jacob was still pressed up to his locker by his scrawny throat when Mouse got there. Finn wasn't there, and neither was Quinn.

Puck was the one holding Jacob up by the neck, and the other ten Glee members were there, every single one of them looking murderous. There was more rage in Kurt's face than she'd ever seen before, and Tina looked ready to kill, cracking her knuckles threateningly.

"Sue told me to run it!" Jacob was saying, his voice nothing more than a whisper due to Puck's grip.

"I say we castrate the liar," Mercedes snarled.

"No, no! It was Ms. Lemay! Really, it was. She did it to get back at Mr. Schuester and Ms. Sylvester. I have evidence!" he said.

"Let him go," Mouse said softly, sighing.

Puck glanced at her, and let Jacob drop into a heap on the floor.

"Ms. Lemay ... wanted to get back at ... Will for letting ... your retard brother ... in the school," Jacob said, taking long deep breaths to ease his constricted throat.

Mouse bit her tongue and was a second away from kicking Jacob in the stomach, when Puck did it for her.

"Don't call him that, you little bastard," Puck growled, glaring daggers down at Jacob.

Jacob groaned in pain, and Puck looked at Mouse when she sighed in annoyance.

"After Mrs. Schuester was fired, I sort of volunteered to help as school nurse. I've got a First Aid certificate. One of the very few in this town, apparently," Mouse muttered. "If you hurt him any more, I'm going to have to look after the slimy git."

"Why would you _volunteer_ for that?" Puck asked, shaking his head.

"Because Figgins refused to pay me for it," Mouse replied, folding her arms.

"Umm... Guys, can we get back to ripping into the stupid journalist for writing crap about Candy now?" Mercedes muttered, looking down at Jacob, who was coughing miserably.

"I agree. If he so much as coughs near my shoes, someone has my permission to kick him again!" Kurt said quickly, stepping away from the boy on the floor.

"So where's this supposed evidence you have that shows Ms. Lemay wanting you to run the article about my brother?" Mouse asked, stepping very gently on Jacob's hand. "One lie, and I'll make sure you'll have to type with your toes. Understood?" she asked, applying pressure.

He gulped and nodded quickly. "I'll tell you everything!" Jacob whimpered.

...

Ms. Lemay saw the news article stuck to the window on the library's door. She hoped that Jane had used the scotch tape instead of normal sticky tape. Sticky tape was extremely difficult to get off glass, and left an awful residue that never seemed to come off, even after three hours of cleaning.

Opening the library doors, she pulled the article off - it was scotch tape, thankfully - and went to her desk to read what the Israel boy had written.

Halfway through the article - _it wasn't half bad_, Ms. Lemay thought, _considering the limited amount of information she'd given the annoying brat_ - she heard a loud noise coming from outside the library. When the noise died off, she dismissed it and returned to reading the article, chewing on the end of her pen at the same time.

She'd told herself off almost every day for ten years straight when she chewed on her pen, and so had her ex-husband. After he'd left her for a much younger woman, as Israel had said earlier, she'd briefly wondered if it was because of the pen chewing, and couldn't even look at a pen for months after the divorce. Now she chewed her pens just to spite the bastard, and she sincerely hoped he was the one who ended up with ink poisoning because of all the writing he covered his slimy hands with...

"Ms. Lemay!" Jane called out.

Startled at the sudden noise, she almost choked on her pen. Looked like it was time to stop chewing it again...

"Yes?" she asked, coughing slightly, her throat sore.

"I just wanted to let you know that Jacob Ben Israel is currently being put into detention with Sue Sylvester. He said that you told him to run the article on Candy so you could get revenge on Mr. Schuester for knocking those shelves over, and Sue Sylvester for everything she did to you and your husband," Mouse said. "Jacob also said that he had evidence on this," she added before Ms. Lemay could say anything.

"I have no idea what you're on about, Jane. I loathe that little cockroach, almost as much as I hate Sue!"

"But you still hate Sue more, and by letting the article about Candy run in the newspaper, you're destroying her chance at co-directing _New Directions_, which also means destroying Will's hopes, and you've held a grudge over him knocking those shelves down for seven whole years! So that would immediately cancel out any hate you had for some annoying school paper journalist, or any loyalty you had to the only person who stayed by you after your husband left you for his dentist's assistant."

Mouse knew how Ms. Lemay glared now: she built up every hateful feeling she'd ever had, immediately honed it on the closest person as if it was their fault, and made them feel like the smallest atom in the world...

"You don't understand, Jane. She ruined my life! Sue sent him to that bloody dentist, knowing full well that my husband had wandering eyes! I would have kept him by me if it wasn't for that meddlesome bitch! And that stupid bastard is nothing more than a thorn in my side; in this school's side! You see the hope he's giving the students by starting this stupid program. No one cares about Glee, anymore than anyone cares about this damned library!"

There was a moment of silence, and Mouse looked at Ms. Lemay with disgust and pity in her eyes.

"You ruined your own life, Ms. Lemay. You know that your husband would have left you eventually; Sue just made it happen quicker and less publicly than he would have done for the ex-volleyball coach here. And yes, Mr. Schue is giving the students hope... But some hope is better than none, and you're so jaded that you can't even see that."

Mouse shook her head and turned to leave the library. Turning back to look at her fallen idol once more, Mouse added, "You're wrong about no one caring about Glee or the library, Ms. Lemay. I may not be the most popular girl in this school, but I still care about Glee and the library. It's a shame that you don't anymore."

Finished now, Mouse left the library. Ten people were waiting outside for her; all of the members from Glee, apart from Finn and Quinn.

Mouse smiled at them briefly. She'd just left the library, and she was no longer in Glee Club, but despite all this, Mouse still felt somewhat happy. She now had friends to stand by her.

...

End of the eighth chapter! Hope you enjoyed it!

...


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee. I only own Mouse, Candy and Sarah.

(a/n: _Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing!_

_I hope you enjoy this chapter - this is where it begins to skew from the original TV show, hope you still enjoy it!_

_**Warnings**: Explicit language.  
__  
Please remember that if you want a reply to your review, you NEED to sign in. I can't reply to every unsigned review on here - it would take up more room than the story itself!  
__  
Read on, oh faithful ones_...)

__

...

___Chapter Nine  
_

...

"So, tell me Jane, why do you think you're here?" Emma asked, sitting up straight as she smiled at Mouse who was sitting across from her.

"Because you booked the appointment for me, and then cornered me after my last class so I couldn't go straight home and skip this meeting," Mouse replied, a fake smile on her face.

"Let's talk about what you did to Kent, and Jacob, and Ms. Lemay. And then we'll talk about why you quit Glee, how about that?" Emma suggested brightly.

"They're all because of the same thing, Miss Pillsbury, and after the article Jacob printed about my brother yesterday, you really can't think why I did anything I've done?" Mouse asked, rolling her eyes.

"Tell me about Candon, Jane."

_Tell me about Will, Emma... Tell me about your infatuation with him. Tell me if it's just wanting what you can't have, or if you really think it's love, and he'll leave his wife for you when he thinks she's pregnant. But you and I both know that she's not pregnant, especially after you read that pregnancy book in one night, but still haven't even taken the marriage books out of the bag_, Mouse thought. She didn't dare open her mouth in case her thoughts poured out of her mouth.

"If you don't tell me anything, I can't help you, Jane," Emma said pointedly, straightening one of the pencils sitting on her desk.

_If I told you anything, you'd be the one who needed help, not me_.

"Keeping secrets won't help anyone, Jane. The truth needs to be told."

Still Mouse didn't say a word. At least, not out loud.

_The truth be told, the truth be told,  
I'm worried about the future holds, the future holds,  
I'm starting to worry about Ray._

_The truth be told, the truth be told,  
I'm worried about the future holds, the future holds,  
I'm seriously worried about Ray._

_They say the future's out to get you,  
You know that I won't let you fall.  
They say the future's out to get you,  
You know that I won't let you fall._

_The truth be told, the truth be told,  
I'm treading on my tippy toes, my tippy toes,  
I'm starting to worry about Ray._

_The truth be told, the truth be told,  
I'm treading on my tippy toes, my tippy toes,  
__I'm painfully so worried about Ray_...

"Jane? Jane? Mouse!" Emma was saying, getting her attention finally.

"You said something, Miss Pillsbury?" Mouse asked, looking at her again.

"Yes, I said that you need to talk to me. After all of this stuff that's going on at home with your brother, who'll be here soon, I might add," Emma said, indicating to the school newspaper in front of her. "You're going to need someone to talk to, and people to support you. Now that you're no longer in Glee, do you think that your friends will still be able to stay by your side when they have to practice nearly every afternoon to prepare for Sectionals?"

Mouse was silent for a moment, glowering at the newspaper on Emma's desk, as if she was hoping it would burst into flames if she glared at it long enough.

"The stuff written in that newspaper is not a first-hand account, therefore most of it can be discredited as lies and heresy," Mouse said off-handedly.

"But the main part of it is true, isn't it?" Emma said softly. "Your brother has mental retardation, and as such, will most likely be teased when he attends this school."

_If she mentions anything about sunglasses, I may just scream_, Mouse thought to herself.

"Now, if you had a teacher on your side, say Mr. Schuester..." Emma started.

"Right... Not going to happen," Mouse drawled - _Emma was so in love with Will, she didn't even realise that he'd been the one to drive Mouse from Glee_ - "Great chatting with you, Miss Pillsbury. We should do it again some time," she said, sarcasm dripping from every word as she stood and picked up her bag.

"Jane?"

Mouse ignored Emma and headed to the door.

"Jane?" a heavy sigh. "Mouse, sit down."

"I'm within my rights to leave, and I'm going home. Thanks for your time, Emma. Return those books on time, or else Ms. Lemay will fine you, teacher or not," Mouse added over her shoulder, the door closing behind her.

Muttering to herself, Mouse walked through the empty school corridors and out the front doors. She stopped short at the sight that met her outside the school gates. About ten jocks were standing there. Not one was Finn, Puck or Kent, so far as she could tell...

Not knowing if this was good or not, Mouse kept her head down and tried to walk past them.

"Hey, you! Wait up!" one of the jocks called, all of them coming after her.

Mouse started to run, then slowed after a few metres. She was tired of running...

Turning to face them, she gripped her bag tightly, ready to use it as a weapon if need be. _The gods knew it was damned heavy enough to decapitate someone_!

"Afternoon, boys. What can I help you with?" Mouse asked politely, mustering as much courage as she could in case they were going to hurt her.

Not one person was left in the car park, Emma's office was the furthest from the entrance to the school, which basically meant that no one would be able to hear Mouse scream.

"We read about your brother in the school paper ... And well, we just wanted to apologise for what Kent said about him," the black jock, Terrence, said, holding his hands in front of his groin so she wouldn't kick him.

"Tell Kent to apologise for himself!" Mouse said immediately.

"He won't listen to us," Terrence muttered.

"You're not, like, really going to kill us and throw us into the school incinerator if we, like, tease your brother, are you? Because I, like, really need to pass my exams," another said.

"What the fuck's going on here?" Puck asked behind them.

"We were just apologising to her on behalf of Kent..." Terrence said quickly.

"You 'kay?" Puck asked Mouse, looking her over for any signs of pain or bruising.

"Fine, they really were apologising," she replied, shrugging. "You really think I'm going to kill you if you tease my brother?" Mouse asked the jocks curiously.

Most of them nodded after a moment of hesitation.

"Well, I _will_ kill you if you even so much as **look** at my brother the wrong way..."

The jocks paled, but Mouse ignored them and continued to talk.

"And that goes the same for any of the Glee Club members. If I hear about one slushie in the face, or someone thrown in the rubbish bin, or even if you laugh at one of them, I will kill you and throw your body into the incinerator to remove the evidence... Got that?" she asked, glaring at them.

This time there was no hesitation as each and every one of the jocks nodded quickly. Within minutes, the jocks had fled, leaving Puck and Mouse alone.

"You're fucking evil, Mouse. I think they actually believed you," Puck said, shaking his head.

"I wasn't lying," Mouse replied, smirking as she left the car park and headed home.

Puck hurried after her, frowning slightly. "You wouldn't really ... you know, _kill _them ... would you?"

"Of course not. But they don't need to know that," Mouse replied, shrugging. "I will kick their arses to the ground and probably break their hands if they lay a finger on Candy, but killing's just too messy and far too much paperwork."

Puck just stayed silent, unsure if she was joking or not, and continued to walk Mouse home.

"There you are, Jane sweetie! I just got a call from Jen and her sister to go play tennis with them. I'll be back in a couple of hours, look after Candon for me!" Sarah said, hurrying out to the car.

"Didn't you say that Jen twisted her ankle?" Mouse said, dumping her bag by the door and going after her mother.

"Well, yes. But her physio said that exercise is good for the tendons, or something... And I'll probably just end up playing her sister anyway. Jen really isn't that good at tennis," Sarah whispered, as if it was the world's biggest secret. "See you later, Jane sweetie. Be good! Nice to see you again, Noah!" Sarah called with a wave, getting into the car and starting the engine before Mouse could say anything to stop her.

She pulled out of the driveway not even five seconds later, and Mouse sighed, shaking her head as she watched her mother drive off.

"What the fuck was that about? Is she on drugs or something?" Puck asked in shock, staring after the small red car that was no longer in sight.

"Sarah has a very firm belief about what goes on in your house should stay in your house, and what goes on outside the house is just a show for the rest of the world to see," Mouse replied, grabbing her bag from the doorstep and heading inside.

"That's fucked up," Puck muttered, following her in.

"It's actually a very common thought among the cougars... How do you think you were able to sleep with so many of them without their husbands trying to kill you? On the outside they act like they're the perfect couple, but the moment they're inside, they're just as dysfunctional as the next family."

"Mousie!" Candy said happily, getting up and hugging her tightly. "Pucky!" he said, doing the same to him.

"Hey Candy kid," Puck said with a slight grin, ruffling his hair.

"Watch with sweet," Candy said, grabbing Puck's hand and taking him over to the small bean bag on the floor.

"He wants food?" Puck asked Mouse, looking to her with a frown.

"No, Candy calls himself sweet sometimes. Probably from all the times Mum and I have called him _sweetie_," Mouse said with a short and ironic laugh.

"Okay, so what are we watching?" Puck asked, looking at Candy.

"_Toy Story_!" Candy said.

"I know that one," Puck said grinning as he started to sing. "_You've got a friend in me,_

_You've got a friend in me.  
When the road is rough ahead,  
And you're miles and miles,  
From your nice warm bed.  
Just remember what your old pal said,  
__Boy, you got a friend in me_," Puck sang.

Candy's eyes lit up and he sang along with Puck, his head bopping along to the words.

Mouse smiled and went to the kitchen to get them all something to eat.

She wasn't quite sure why Puck had come home with her. She wasn't in Glee anymore, so he didn't need to practice for Sectionals with her. Mouse briefly wondered if it was because he wanted to kiss her again, and she was surprised to find that she didn't mind that thought at all.

"You all right?" Puck's voice startled her from her thoughts, and Mouse went red as she realised she'd been daydreaming about him kissing her.

"Fine. Why?" she asked quickly, turning to get some juice from the fridge.

"You've been in here a while, and I couldn't hear you moving around," Puck said. He leaned against the door frame, folding his arms as he grinned. "So what were you thinking about?"

He recognised the look on her face; he'd seen it on countless other girls and women before...

"Oh nuts, Mum put the empty carton back in. She knows I hate that!" Mouse muttered, trying to ignore his question, as well as his intense gaze into her back.

"Oh nuts, oh nuts!" Candy copied with a laugh, having followed Puck to the kitchen. "Oh nuts, oh nuts, oh nuts," he repeated, making the two words into a song.

"Not now, Candy," Mouse said wearily, suddenly feeling so damned tired from her day.

Candy either didn't hear, or took no notice, as he continued his chant happily enough.

"Come on, Candy kid. Let's go finish watching _Toy Story_," Puck murmured, leading him back to the lounge room.

Mouse sighed heavily, and sat up on the kitchen bench. When she'd recollected herself enough, Mouse went out to sit in the lounge room with Puck and Candy.

...

Will didn't know what to do. He still hadn't lodged the new student forms for Candy, and they'd been sitting on his desk for the entire day, mocking him for being so stupid.

_How had he not seen that what Sarah wanted wasn't what was best for Candy or Mouse? Was he that blinded by her good taste in music? And really, he didn't even like Tom Cruise or that song very much anyway... He was an idiot for letting this happen_!

"And now these damned articles," he muttered, looking at the one Mouse had saved of his mother running away with Josh Groban - _he'd called his dad, and apparently his mum had spent the night with Josh (which Will refused to think about), but hadn't actually run off with him. Thank God for small miracles_ - and then to the one about Candy's soon-to-be attendance at McKinley High.

Sighing heavily, he looked at the forms in his in tray. He had to throw them away. _It was the right thing to do_...

"There you are, Schue! I just read the article about our newest member at McKinley High! I presume you got the paperwork signed, and an advance payment from the boy's mother?" Principal Figgins asked, looking into Will's office.

"About that, sir... I don't think it's wise to let the boy attend school here," Schue said, coughing slightly to hide his embarrassment.

"Why not? We have plenty classes that are suited to his needs, and he'll be under your watchful eye, Schue! I have full confidence in you," Figgins said, taking the forms and cheque, and then leaving before Will could say anything else.

Will stared after him in shock.

...

_You have received an urgent message from Jane Franklin (Mouse). She requests that you pretty please open it this very moment, or else she'll hurt you_!

The message blinked on the screen for the whole of five seconds before Puck opened the email. Glancing up, he saw that the rest of the Glee members had received emails as well. Finn wasn't talking to him, and hadn't for the whole day. In fact, he'd hardly talked to anyone.

"You guys get this message too?" Mercedes called out, Kurt sitting next to her at the computer.

"Yeah, I got one," Puck answered.

"Same," Quinn said, Brittany and Santana saying the same.

"Well, let's just watch it around the one computer. It's got some sort of video attachments, and I couldn't stand listening to everyone trying to play it at the same time," Kurt muttered.

Somehow, they all ended up surrounding Puck; even Finn was standing back there. Puck glowered at them, but they didn't seem fazed, so then he glowered at the brightly lit screen instead, and opened the first of the three attachments.

Mouse's face showed up, a bit too close, and then the zoom was adjusted properly.

"All right, I know you guys have been lacking motivation," she said, then paused.

"Only some of us have," Rachel said immediately.

"Okay, I left time for Rachel to comment on that," Mouse said, grinning. "Anyway, lacking motivation, blah, blah, blah. No more comments, Rachel!" she added.

Rachel closed her mouth and folded her arms in a huff.

"So, since you think that you're all that great and will win Sectionals easily, I thought I'd get these videos done up for you. This video is of the School for Deaf performance. I should tell you that due to recent funding, they now have state-of-the-art hearing aids, which means they can probably hear the music better than you."

There was some fiddling with the camera, and suddenly the view was pointing at a small stage.

A group of six children - three boys and three girls - walked onto the stage quietly. The zoom focused in one on of the boys' hearing aids, as if to prove Mouse's point.

A guitar began, and suddenly the three girls looked up and stepped forward, grinning.

"On a train, heading east of here,  
Where I'll end up, I'm not quite clear.  
But I can't help myself, I must be settling down.  
Until they stop this thing, I'll get around," the girls sang.

"When I hear it's been done before,  
And I hear it's a simple thing.  
Then I hear it's quite difficult,  
And I hear almost everything!" they all sang together, and then the boys stepped forward, and the girls back.

"Pass through deserts with mountain streams,  
Outside my window, the scene's serene.  
The day I find myself I'll be so very proud,  
And I will not get passed up in the crowd!" the boys sang, the girls moving forward again.

"When I hear it's been done before,  
And I hear it's a simple thing.  
Then I hear it's quite difficult,  
And I hear..." they sang together.

Stepping apart, the girls to one side and the boys to the other. The girls began to sing, then they alternated with the boys for the next few lines.

"Now I'm not trying to cut anyone down,  
But I know it's been going on too long," the girls sang.

"Simply doing what you feel,  
Is the best way not to go wrong," the boys sang.

"But I know it seems crazy,  
And it might be a struggle."

"But I don't believe all this is true,  
So I'm here, I'm uneasy, and I'm ready to go!"

"And I won't stop until this thing goes round and round,  
And I can sing like I will never know!"

They stepped forward once more to be in one line, and sang in unison again.

"When I hear it's been done before,  
And I hear it's a simple thing.  
Then I hear it's quite difficult,  
And I hear almost everything!"

"When I hear it's been done before,  
And I hear it's a simple thing.  
Then I hear it's quite difficult,  
And I hear almost everything!"

As the song ended, all of the Glee Club was staring at the screen in some shock. The deaf kids were no Vocal Adrenaline, but they were **good**.

"I haven't tweaked the videos, either. If you want to check for yourselves, I still have the originals at my house; my address is at the bottom of the email. If anyone so much as shows that to Jacob Ben Israel, I will hunt you down!" Mouse muttered, looking at the camera once more. "You're all probably sitting there in shock, right? Yeah, thought so. Anyway, onto the next video Glee people! And smile a bit, you're supposed to be happy..."

The video cut off suddenly, and they were still all staring at the screen.

"C-can we not c-c-click the n-next video?" Tina asked, her face pale.

"I don't think I want to see it," Mercedes agreed, shaking her head.

"You're just being wimps," Puck muttered, clicking the next attachment.

"All right, I'm glad you opened this one! Was afraid you might have been scared off... I'm sure someone opened it and made the rest of you watch," Mouse said, grinning at the camera. "So, this is the group from the halfway house for juvenile delinquents. You might think that they don't care, but believe me, they do. They've been promised a three course meal if they win, and they are **hungry**..."

The camera turned suddenly, and the lights dimmed. In three bright flashes of colour, not even three seconds later, the stage was revealed to show a large group of ten (six girls and four guys) sitting on the edge of the small stage.

"My destiny..." the girls sang.

Then the beat started, and cascading one after the other, each jumped up and somersaulted back into the air to land on the stage.

"Don't need to think too hard,  
About what to say to you.  
Words come so easily,  
Because what I say is the truth.  
You don't need to worry about me,  
I don't need nothing but you and you know it.  
Baby, I would give you anything," the main girl sang, stepping forward as she glanced at the guy behind her.

"Feels like you was someone I knew,  
Could have sworn we met before.  
Feels like in the past, that history,  
Maybe you're just my destiny," the guy sang, moving to be in front of her.

"Feels like you was someone I knew,  
Could have sworn we met before.  
Feels like in the past, that history,  
Maybe you're just my destiny," everyone sang together.

The music slowed, and the main girl stepped forward again, everyone dancing the steps behind her, moving their arms in unison.

"There's no one else I know that knows me better than you,  
Got an effect on me, you changed me for the good.  
If I had never met you, the way I feel I would not know how to show it,  
You brought out the best in me."

The girls all sang together, the main girl echoing them.

"Feels like you was someone I knew,  
Could have swore we met before. (Hey)  
Feels like in the past, that history,  
Maybe you're just my destiny. (Destiny)"

Then the boys sang in reply, their main guy echoing them as well.

"Feels like you was someone I knew, (Someone I knew)  
Could have swore we met before.  
Feels like in the past, that history,  
Maybe you're just my destiny. (Destiny)"

"You've given me more than I could ever dream of,  
You're inspirational to me.  
You're my destiny,  
We are meant to be," the main girl sang again.

Once more, they all stepped forward to sing together.

"Feels like you was someone I knew,  
Could have swore we met before.  
Feels like in the past, that history,  
Maybe you're just my destiny."

The two lead singers stepped to the front as the rest moved back, dancing.

"Feels like you was someone I knew,  
Could have swore we met before.  
Feels like in the past, that history,  
Maybe you're just my destiny," they sang together.

The music and lights faded off, and the group high-fived each other, whistling loudly. The camera wavered and was soon on Mouse's face again.

"Breathe a bit... You might want to take a break before you see the next video," she warned, and the video went black.

"Does a year constitute as a break?" Kurt muttered.

"I'm afraid not. But Mouse is right, I need to sit down and breathe. They were even better than the other group," Rachel said, turning away to get her drink bottle.

She bumped into Finn, and smiled shyly. He hardly glanced at her, his eyes still focused on the screen. Slightly put out, Rachel looked away quickly and went to her bag.

A few minutes later, they were all around the computer screen again, each one wondering what on earth this last video was going to be of. Mouse had already shown them their Sectionals competition, and Dakota Stanley now had police officers supervising every single Vocal Adrenaline practice so that no one could film them.

Puck almost held his breath as he clicked the final attachment.

At first there was nothing, not even Mouse's face. Then they heard Mouse talking, but the screen was still black.

"Yes, mum, I know. Just give me a minute and I'll tell you how to record the TV show," Mouse was whispering. "It's Cody," she added.

"What the hell is she on about?" Puck mused, his head cocked to the side as if he could see around the taped video.

"I think Mouse is talking in code," Artie said, pushing his glasses up his nose. "We all know her brother's Candy, and she said Cody..."

"And she'd never talk to her mum in that type of voice either," Puck muttered in agreement.

"I know that the show's about to start, I'll help you record it in a minute," Mouse said.

"Her voice is getting louder on certain words," Kurt said, sounding surprised he'd noticed it.

"Maybe we should start the video again," Tina said, frowning.

Puck nodded and did exactly that.

"... **_Just give me a minute and I'll_** tell you how to **_record the_** TV **_show_**," Mouse whispered, her voice indeed getting louder with certain words. "**_Vocal Adrenaline practice_**. **_Library liaison_** conference which **_got me into the school_**."

Suddenly bright lights filled the screen, but it still looked hazy.

"The **_camera is_** in the closet, **_under my_** white **_shirt_**, Mum," Mouse murmured.

It looked like there were scraps of blue material just lying on the stage, but then the blue materials started moving to reveal legs, and they realised that the Vocal Adrenaline girls were all lying on the stage.

"Ooh watching me, hanging by a string this time,  
Oh easily, the climax of a perfect life," the girls all sang in unison.

"Ooh watching me, hanging by a string this time,  
Oh easily, my smile's worth a hundred lies," the boys sang, stepping from the background to lift the girls from the stage.

The girls swept up from the stage, their dresses swinging as they swished them, walking around their partner as he dropped to the stage now.

"If there's lessons to be learned, I'd rather get my jamming words in first, oh,  
Tell ya something that I've found, that the world's a better place when it's upside down, boy..." the girls sang loudly, the music pumping loudly.

"If there's lessons to be learned, I'd rather get my jamming words in first, oh,  
When you're playing with desire, don't come running to my place when it burns like fire, boy..."

On the stage, the boys were now lying on the floor and kicking their legs up in unison, the girls walking above them.

"Sweet about me, nothing sweet about me, yeah.  
Sweet about me, nothing sweet about me, yeah.  
Sweet about me, nothing sweet about me, yeah.  
Sweet about me, nothing sweet about me, yeah," the guys all sang, jumping up at the same time and running after their partner.

"Blue, blue, blue waves they crash,  
As time goes by, so hard to catch.  
And too, too smooth, ain't all that,  
Why don't you ride my side of the tracks?" the girls sang back, running between each guy and to the front of the stage.

"If there's lessons to be learned, I'd rather get my jamming words in first, oh,  
Tell ya something that I've found, that the world's a better place when it's upside down, boy..." they all sang together now, turning around each other as they danced.

"If there's lessons to be learned, I'd rather get my jamming words in first, oh,  
When you're playing with desire, don't come running to my place when it burns like fire, boy..."

"Sweet about me, nothing sweet about me, yeah  
Sweet about me, nothing sweet about..."

"WHAT IS THAT?!" a voice yelled directly beside the camera.

They jumped at the sudden loud noise, and they all knew the voice instantly, despite only meeting the man twice - Dakota Stanley, the choreographer for Vocal Adrenaline.

On the screen, all of the Vocal Adrenaline kids rushed to the edge of the stage to watch what was happening.

"I'm sorry, Mum. I'll come home and help you record your show," Mouse said, sighing heavily.

The camera turned and they had a sudden view of Dakota Stanley's bright red shirt.

"Sorry, my mum's freaking out because the VCR's not recording her favourite program. I told her not to touch anything, but you know what parents can be like. Especially those that are techo-phobes," Mouse said, lying easily.

"Give me that phone!" Dakota snarled, and they saw Mouse's small phone in his hand a moment later.

"Can I get my phone back now? It's crappy, really... Damn thing's so cheap that it doesn't even have a camera!" Mouse muttered. "My mum had better be buying me a new one for my birthday," she said, her voice sounding childish.

Dakota went through the phone and found it really didn't have a video recorder.

"Why are you in here making phone calls?" he asked suspiciously.

"My mum called me, actually. I was just in here watching Vocal Adrenaline. They're so great!" Mouse simpered, turning to look at the group on the stage. "I can't wait to see them at Regionals!"

"Oh, hold the phone!" Mercedes called out suddenly.

"What? What's wrong?" Finn asked immediately, looking at her.

"Rewind a couple seconds and pause. I need to drool," Mercedes said to Puck, ignoring Finn's question.

Frowning in confusion, he did as she said.

"Oh, my," Kurt said, his mouth dropping open.

"Wow. He is hot!" Santana said, ignoring the look Mike gave her.

"What am I supposed to be seeing?" Puck asked, shaking his head.

_It was just a close-up of one of the Vocal Adrenaline guys. What was so good about that_?

"Oh, man. Just looking at the boy gives me shivers!" Mercedes said, fanning herself.

"A-agreed," Rachel said breathlessly, staring at the screen.

"Are all of you drooling back there?" Puck asked, worried that they'd salivate on his head.

"Even Quinn's drooling. Finn, check your girlfriend," Matt said with a laugh.

"Check your own," Finn muttered, nodding at Brittany, who was staring at the close-up with wide eyes.

"She always looks like that..." Matt replied, but a few seconds later, he was waving a hand in front of Brittany's face and telling her to snap out of it.

"Okay, time to press play, people. That means we're leaving the picture of the guy..." Puck said slowly, pressing the play button amid cries of protest.

"... wait to see them in Regionals! You're great, Josh!" Mouse called, and the supposedly-hot guy waved to her, grinning broadly.

"All right, all right. You've blown their egos up enough. It'll take days to bring them down again. Get going, girl, or I'll get the police to escort you out," Dakota muttered.

"I wouldn't mind that, they've got handcuffs, and my old pair broke," Mouse said.

With an innocent whistle, she took her phone back, and left a stunned Dakota behind her.

A few minutes later, the sun was shining outside of the auditorium, and the camera was brought out of Mouse's pocket.

"I don't actually have handcuffs, get those thoughts out of your minds. I mean it!" Mouse said, glaring at the camera lens.

"Hey, you there!" a loud male voice yelled.

"Oh, shit. Gotta run!" Mouse said, and the screen went blank just as it showed a policeman leaving the school building and pointing at her.

"Jesus Christ!" Finn muttered, staring at the screen.

"Finn, don't take the Lord's name in vain," Quinn said, but she didn't sound like she meant it, and looked like she wanted to say that herself.

A few seconds later, Mouse appeared on the screen once more, her face bright and hair messed up from running.

"She could have combed herself," Kurt murmured.

"Sorry about the bad hair and whatnot... I had to throw my brush into the bushes so he'd go in that direction instead of towards me. It actually worked, so he obviously hasn't watched enough movies," Mouse murmured. "Anyway, I got in, got the video, got out, and survived to tell the tale! So, I rock, and you now have enough motivation to get singing again. _So go and sing, my pretties! Sing_!" Mouse said, cackling wildly.

The screen went black.

"Mouse is weird," Tina said, shaking her head.

"Hey, guys! What's up?" Schue asked from behind them.

He'd seen them all in the computer room, and wondered if they'd been looking up songs for Glee. _Maybe they were getting motivated again_!

"Nothing, Mr. Schue. I'm going to practice," Finn replied, getting up and leaving the room.

"What's wrong with him?" Schuester asked in confusion.

Santana, Mike, Matt, and Brittany all left as well, not answering his question.

"Quinn? Talk to me," Will said, getting concerned now.

"Not now, Mr. Schue," Quinn muttered, leaving as well.

Rachel left soon afterwards. Mercedes, Tina and Kurt left next, ignoring Schuester too. In a matter of seconds, only Artie and Puck were left with Mr. Schuester. Puck didn't look away from the computer screen, and Will looked to Artie hopefully.

"What's wrong with everyone, Artie? You gotta tell me something!"

Artie sighed heavily, suddenly wishing that he had chosen the wheelchair with the monster wheels. Then he'd be able to steamroll his way out of this room, and not have to explain everything that Mr. Schuester had done, and hadn't done.

"We just got an email from Mouse," Puck answered him surprisingly enough, still looking at the screen.

"Oh..." Will said, coughing slightly and looking away.

"She sent us videos of our competition for both Sectionals and Regionals," Artie added.

"Come on guys, we've been through this already. We have the required twelve singers for Sectionals, even without Mouse. We don't need her to sing now, and we can still win! I believe in you," Will said enthusiastically.

There was a knot tying itself over and over in the pit of his stomach, and even he felt sickened at the words that were coming out of his mouth.

"You know what, Mr. Schue? Fuck you," Puck said, getting up and pushing past Will roughly.

Artie sighed. _Looked like he'd have to explain after all. He really thought Mr. Schue was smarter than this_...

"We know that we may not need Mouse to sing, Mr. Schue, but we want her to. You did wrong, so you need to fix it and get her back... Look at the email for yourself," Artie said, rolling out of the computer room.

Stunned, Will sat on the chair and looked at the screen. Sighing heavily, he opened the first email attachment.

...

As the doorbell's tone faded, Mouse opened the door, reading to tell Sarah to be quiet, as she'd only just put Candy to bed. It wasn't Sarah however, and Mouse frowned slightly, wondering why on earth Quinn Fabray was standing on her front step.

"Hi, Mouse," Quinn said. "Going to let me in, or just keep a pregnant girl out in the cold all night?" she asked, smirking briefly.

"Sure. I'm just surprised to see you," Mouse said, stepping back to let Quinn inside.

"Well, I'm just as surprised to be here, believe me," she muttered in reply, looking around the house in scrutiny as Mouse led her to the lounge room.

There were Disney toys everywhere, Candy's beanbag was in the middle of the floor, paper dolls lying next to it, their coloured-in faces smiling up at Quinn brightly.

"Is Candy home?" Quinn asked, sitting on the couch delicately.

"He's upstairs asleep. I'm not going to wake him, sorry," Mouse said immediately.

"That's all right, I wasn't going to ask you to. I was just curious," Quinn replied, her foot playing with the beanbag.

"Can I ask why you're here? And at this time of night?" Mouse asked, glancing at Quinn's stomach briefly.

"I came to talk to you. And I couldn't get away from my parents until now," she answered, her hands over her stomach protectively.

"Okay. Well, talk," Mouse said, leaning back on the armchair as she watched Quinn.

Quinn was silent for a moment, not looking at Mouse.

"I wanted to apologise for what I said earlier about you and Puck," she said finally, her eyes still looking at everything except Mouse. "I was wrong to say that he loved me and not you... I'm just very jealous lately, and it's difficult being alone," Quinn admitted.

"You're not alone," Mouse said, frowning.

Quinn laughed shortly, looking at her now. "Finn and Puck won't even talk to each other, let alone look at me. Everyone in Glee is supporting me, sure, but that doesn't mean they're there when I'm getting an ultrasound, or when doctors show up at my front door demanding I pay the hospital bills. Soon enough my parents are going to find out, and then I'll really be alone, and have nowhere to stay either."

Mouse sighed, shaking her head slightly. "Quinn, listen to me. I'm only going to say this once... You wouldn't have come to me if you didn't want to hear the truth. The rest of the guys would have sugar-coated it, and that's not what you need."

Quinn nodded briefly, waiting for her to continue.

"You're an idiot."

"Just because I didn't want it sugar-coated, it doesn't mean you can insult me!" Quinn said immediately, standing and glaring down at Mouse.

"Sit down this instant, Quinn Fabray," Mouse said, her voice not raising any higher, and her tone completely calm.

Slowly and very reluctantly, Quinn sat back down again.

"You're an idiot for not only sleeping with Puck without contraceptives, but you're also an idiot for lying about it. You should have known exactly what would have happened the moment Finn found out about it. You didn't think he was that dumb, did you?"

Quinn didn't answer, but her silence said it all.

"You aren't a mind reader, but you obviously saw that Finn was attracted to Rachel; that's why you joined Glee, isn't it?" Mouse asked.

"To start off with," she admitted.

"Right, and then you went and slept with Puck. How did that come about? As President of the Chastity Club, I thought you would have had more strength than that."

"Don't sit there and preach to me, Mouse. You can't resist him either," Quinn said, then sighed and continued, "I felt ugly that day, and he got me drunk on wine coolers."

"That must not have been a pleasant experience for your first time," Mouse murmured sarcastically. "What story did you tell Finn?"

"Spa ... making out ..." she mumbled incoherently.

"What?"

"I said it happened in the spa when we were making out. Something about the temperature being right for sperm to swim up there. I don't really remember now," Quinn said, her face red.

Mouse burst out laughing, quickly clamping her hand over her mouth to muffle the noise.

"Oh. Wow. Funny..." she said, laughing still between her words. "I'm really surprised that he believed that," Mouse said, laughing once more.

"I'm not," Quinn muttered, raising her eyebrow slightly as she looked away from the laughing little mouse, and down at the carpet.

Mouse finally stopped laughing, and then looked at Quinn seriously once more.

"You're still an idiot for thinking that you're alone or will have nowhere to stay. Sure, Puck and Finn aren't talking, or talking to you, but that doesn't mean they're not going to help you after they've sorted things out in their own heads. Finn even got a job to support you and the baby, despite the fact that you're giving it to Mrs. Schuester," Mouse said.

"How ... how did you know about that?" Quinn asked, her face pale.

"I saw the look on your face when Mr. Schue was talking to his wife," Mouse replied, shrugging. "And I knew you weren't going to keep the baby, especially after Finn came up with the name _Drizzle_... Actually, maybe I shouldn't be so surprised that he believed you," she muttered, shaking her head.

"You're very observant," Quinn said after a moment, frowning slightly.

"I've had to be observant. It's an essential survival skill for anyone attending high school," Mouse replied, rolling her eyes.

"You don't care that you're not popular, do you?" she asked, sounding surprised.

Mouse laughed, it was short and ironic. "Of course not. Why would I care about what those people think about me?"

"Popularity is currency," Quinn said, as if it was obvious.

"And once upon a time, there was no such thing as money. Who really cares what they think? They're not going to be sitting on my shoulder and criticising me for the rest of my life, are they?" Mouse said, shaking her head.

"Probably not, but high school defines your whole life," Quinn retorted.

"I define my own life."

...

"Jane, sweetie!" Sarah called as she opened the front door. "Oh, hello. You brought another friend home, Jane?" she asked sweetly, seeing Quinn sitting on the lounge.

"Yeah. Do you mind if Quinn stays over? I lost track of the time," Mouse said.

"Of course, sweetie. Candon's already in bed?" Sarah asked.

"An hour ago," she replied with a nod.

"I can go, Mouse. I don't need to stay over," Quinn murmured as Sarah hung her coat up and took her heels off.

"You're here now. Call your parents and tell them you're at Santana's house or something, if you don't want them knowing you're here," Mouse replied, shrugging. "Quinn just needs to use the phone for a minute, Mum," she called out before Quinn could object.

"All right, sweetie."

Sarah would be polite and sweet every single moment Quinn was in their house, and the moment she was gone, she would revert back to her normal self. Her rule of putting on an act for their neighbours when she was outside also applied to people inside the house.

"Thanks," Quinn said after a moment's hesitation, standing and going to the cordless phone nearby.

Dialling her house number, she stepped into the kitchen, away from Mouse's observant eyes, and Sarah's fake smile.

"Hi Mum," Quinn said when her mother answered the phone. "Yes, I know... I didn't realise the time... No, I'll be fine. Tell Daddy that I'm going to stay over a friend's place tonight... Yes, she offered, I didn't ask... Mum! I'm not with Finn... Yes, I'll say my prayers... Good night, Mum. Love you," she added, hanging up the phone.

Looking at the phone in her hand for a moment, Quinn sighed softly and went to go back into the lounge room. Seeing that Sarah and Mouse were arguing softly, Quinn stepped back, watching them from the doorway, trying to hear what they were saying.

"... don't care if you sleep with the entire neighbourhood! Just don't bring them home while you're supposed to be looking after Candy!"

"He's old enough to be looking after himself. Besides, it's high time he learnt about the birds and the bees."

"Walking in on you and Ron Silverman is not an educational experience," Mouse said, glaring.

"I am your mother, I can do what and who I want. Just because you're a goodie-two-shoes, it doesn't mean that you can dictate my life. That includes what I drink," Sarah said angrily.

"When you drink the entire liquor store out of business, I think that forfeits your right to make any sound decisions or judgements in your life!"

"This is about Candon going to McKinley High, isn't it? You're jealous that he's going to be at the same school as you, taking the attention from ... Oh hello, Quinn," Sarah said, noticing that she was standing in the doorway.

Mouse went bright red, and refused to look at Quinn.

"I ... uhh ... finished talking with my parents. Thank you for letting me use your phone," Quinn said quickly.

"No problem, sweetie. Jane tells me that you've already eaten, so why don't you two head on upstairs, and do your homework? Jane's got some nice games if you've already finished it," Sarah said, a fake smile plastered on her face.

"I'll be up in a minute. There's some pyjamas in my second drawer if you want to get changed," Mouse said, her face still red.

"All right. Thank you," Quinn said, moving between them and going upstairs quickly.

She waited at the top of the stairs, trying to hear what they were saying now. Unable to hear anything more, Quinn went to the first door uncertainly. She didn't know which room was Mouse's. Opening the door gently, she saw Candy sleeping in his bed, his blanket half on and half off his body. Hearing him snoring gently, Quinn smiled.

"Sorry, I forgot to tell you which room was mine. It's just down the hall here," Mouse said behind Quinn.

She jumped, not having heard Mouse come up the stairs.

"Is everything okay with your mum? I can go home if you want," Quinn said, going to close Candy's door.

"It's fine, Quinn. Why don't you go get changed? I'll be there in a moment," Mouse said, holding the door open and looking at Candy.

"He looks so peaceful and innocent," Quinn murmured enviously.

"That's because he is," Mouse said softly, moving into his room silently and fixing his blanket, stroking his hair gently.

Swallowing the lump that was forming in her throat, Quinn went down the hall to Mouse's room. Closing the door behind her, she went to the chest of drawers and opened the second drawer, pulling out a pair of cotton pyjamas. Changing quickly, Quinn looked at the books that seemed to be in every crevice and nook in the room.

There was a knock at the door, startling her. Hurrying to pull the shirt on, Quinn went over and opened the door to let Mouse in.

"Thanks. I've got a spare toothbrush if you want," Mouse said as she walked into her room.

"Umm... Sure, thanks," she said. "You've got a lot of books."

"I know," Mouse replied, grinning. "The bathroom's just across the hall. The toothbrush is in the top drawer. It should still be in the packet," she added as Quinn walked out, closing the door behind her so Mouse could get changed in private.

Quinn walked into the tidy bathroom, surprised at the lack of makeup and feminine products. She couldn't remember Mouse ever wearing makeup, but then she'd only really noticed her for the past few weeks...

Opening the top drawer, Quinn saw the packaged toothbrush. It was a plain blue one, with soft bristles according to the writing, and she wondered why it wasn't used. Taking the toothbrush out, she started to brush her teeth, spitting into the sink after a few moments. As she straightened, Quinn saw two _Winnie The Pooh_ toothbrushes in a holder next to the tap. She could suddenly imagine her daughter brushing her own teeth with something like that, her tiny hands holding the brush as she brushed her teeth with a fierce determination...

_What was wrong with her?! She wasn't keeping the baby, she was giving her - when had she started to think of the baby as anything other than 'it'? - to Mrs. Schuester. It had been arranged, and she wasn't ready for a baby! Was she?_

"Candy bought the toothbrush for me for Christmas," Mouse said as she saw Quinn staring at the Eeyore and Tigger toothbrushes.

"That's nice of him," Quinn said.

"He didn't know that I'd already bought myself one the day before, that's why that one was still in the packet," Mouse added. "You can keep it."

"Thanks," Quinn replied, taking the toothbrush and going back to Mouse's room.

As she put her new toothbrush away in her bag, she noticed the picture books on the bottom shelf of one of the bookcases. Her eyebrow raised in some confusion, Quinn pulled the top one out and sat on the bed, flipping through the pages slowly. Beautiful pictures of fairies met her eyes, a child in a forest with a small dog beside her. The girl was young and had blonde curls, just like her daughter could have...

"It's still early, if you want to watch a movie or ..." Mouse stopped, seeing Quinn sitting on her bed, crying over a picture book.

Grabbing a box of tissues, Mouse offered them to Quinn, who took it gratefully, turning away to dry her tears and blow her nose.

"I'm so sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me," she said with a small laugh. If she didn't laugh, then she knew that she'd just start to cry again.

Mouse pulled the book off Quinn's lap gently and put it back on the bookcase. "You're pregnant, that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you," she said, sitting beside her and putting an arm around Quinn's shoulders comfortingly.

"I'm crying at everything, and I can't stop thinking about her ... **_it_**," Quinn said, taking another tissue.

"That's normal. You're going to be very emotional, you can cry at the drop of a hat - I mean that literally, by the way - and as an expectant mother, you're going to be thinking about your baby constantly... Even if you're giving the baby to someone else."

Quinn finished drying her tears and looked over at Mouse. "How do you know all this?"

"I read a lot," Mouse said with a shrug, indicating to her bookcases.

"They couldn't **all** tell you about pregnancy," Quinn muttered.

"Of course not, but fiction characters can get pregnant just like real people can," she replied, grinning. "All right now?" she added, seeing that she'd stopped crying now.

"Thanks," she replied with a nod. "You said something about a movie?" Quinn asked, trying to change the subject.

"Sure. I've got to turn stuff off, so you can choose one," Mouse said, getting up and letting Quinn blow her nose again in some privacy.

"You've got a lot of musicals," Quinn noted, seeing the entire shelf of musical movies.

"Candy likes musicals; I'm saving those ones for when he's older. _Chicago_'s not exactly the best movie for him at the moment, despite what my mother thinks," she muttered, sitting at her desk.

"I don't think I can watch a musical right now. Do you have anything that doesn't require much brain power? I'm so exhausted..." Quinn moaned, falling back onto the mattress.

"Also normal for pregnancy," Mouse said, swinging her chair around to face her properly, her glasses perched on the end of her nose.

"Good to know everything is so normal," she replied sarcastically. "Just freaking peachy."

"It's not the normalcy you should be happy about, it's the fact that you're not the only one who's ever felt this way. You're not alone," Mouse said, turning back to the desk, slipping her foot beneath it and flicking the switch off with her toes.

Quinn watched her curiously, wondering why she was turning all of the power outlets off. And with her feet, that was just ... odd!

"It helps my back so I don't have to bend all the time. And it's fun to turn it off this way," Mouse said, not even looking at Quinn to see if she was watching.

"How... How?" Quinn said, utterly bewildered now.

"I can feel you staring at me, and since I'm doing something against the norm, it's only logical that you'd want to know about it. So I just answered before you asked the question... What do you think about aliens?"

"Pardon?"

"An alien movie to watch. No brain power required. But not the proper _Aliens_ movie, because that'll be too loud for Candy. Swear he's hypersensitive sometimes," Mouse muttered. "There's _Chicken Little_ if you want animated, _War of the Worlds_ if you want to listen to me heckle Tom Cruise for almost two hours straight, or that _Scary Movie_ movie if you want something ridiculously stupid ... Too bad about Charlie Sheen's small part in the movie, he was a great lead in the _Hot Shots_ movies," Mouse said with a disappointed sigh. "I refuse to watch _Terminal Velocity_ again. That worm in the bottle... Yuck," she said, shuddering now.

"Okay, I'm officially confused. How do you change thoughts so quickly and keep up with yourself?"

"Hyperactive brain. Insomnia. Very big imagination... Ri-donk-ulously big if you ask Candy... Constant worry. Pick one, you'll be close enough," Mouse said, shrugging briefly.

"Don't you get tired?" Quinn asked, shaking her head.

"Every night," she replied, chuckling. "I pick _Scary Movie_ four."

"What's wrong with _Chicken Little_?" Quinn asked. "Is Tom Cruise in that too?" she asked, grinning slightly.

"I don't think so, and I really hope not... An animated movie might get you upset again, and I'm selfish enough to like my pillow without it being wet from someone else's tears. Say your prayers before watching the filth that is _Scary Movie_ and I'll get the DVD ready," Mouse said, grinning.

Quinn wondered what Mouse cried about, but sighed and dutifully got on her knees beside the bed and started to pray silently.

...

_End of the ninth chapter! Hope you enjoyed it_!

...


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee. I only own Mouse, Candy, Sarah, Terrence and Josh.

(a/n: _thanks to everyone for reviewing, I appreciate it!_

_Read on, oh faithful ones..._)

...

_Chapter Ten_

...

Finn still couldn't believe that Puck had done this to him.

_When had he done this? Why? Why had he gone after Quinn? And then he'd gone after Rachel too! Was she pregnant as well? Why had Quinn refused to sleep with him, and then gone off with Puck? And why had she lied about him being the father?_

Questions just kept going around and around in his head, and Finn wanted to scream loudly. Not even singing could get the thoughts to stop.

Tanaka had scheduled a morning non-mandatory football practice that morning, and Finn was only there so he wouldn't have to think about anything other than tackling, running or throwing a football. _When he was practising - like when he was singing, usually - he didn't have to think about anything, and didn't have to worry about his best friend fucking his girlfriend_...

His plan was going fine until Puck showed up ten minutes later. Finn couldn't help himself, and in seconds, he was on top of Puck, his fists drilling punches into every part of his best friend.

"How the fuck could you do this to me? You bastard!" Finn only realised he was yelling at Puck halfway through, and then continued to yell and punch him until the guys pulled him off.

Oddly enough, Puck didn't hit him back, and just let every punch Finn threw land on him.

"Fight back, you bastard!" Finn screamed, still trying to get at him.

"Cool it, Finn!" Tanaka was yelling in his ear, holding him by the helmet and shirt.

Two others were holding him back as well, but they were struggling.

"Maybe I should go get with Mouse, how about that? You fucking bast..." Finn yelled.

No one had been holding Puck, but now as he started slamming his fists into Finn, the rest of the team rushed to pull him away.

Tanaka waited for a few minutes, allowing his players to calm down.

"Both of you get to the nurse's office. Go separately. Finn, you go first," he muttered, pushing him towards the school building, and using his body to shield Puck. "Move it, Finn!" Ken growled when Finn glared back at Puck.

Muttering, Finn made his way up to the school. He pulled his helmet off, wincing as the motion pulled on his sore arms. His ribs were aching, and probably bruising already. Sitting outside of the nurse's office, Finn briefly wondered who had replaced Mrs. Schuester.

"Hi, Finn. Come in," Mouse said, looking out the office at him.

"Mouse?" Finn said, suddenly embarrassed about what he'd just said about her.

"Yes, me. Hurry up, I'm sure the other guy looks just as bad as you," Mouse said, stepping back.

In a slight daze, Finn followed Mouse into the office. Doing as she instructed, he sat on the small bed and took his football shirt off so she could tend to his bruises.

"This was over Quinn, wasn't it?" Mouse asked quietly, dabbing arnica cream onto his ribs.

Finn just nodded, wincing in pain as she pressed too hard on the large and tender bruise.

"Suck it up, Finn. There's no Vitamin D here to help you get past this. In fact, thanks to Mrs. Schuester's stunt, all pills have been removed from the school, including your everyday aspirin. So unless you've got your own, which I'll have to check before you're allowed to take, you're going to be in pain for the rest of the day," Mouse said.

"I'll be fine," he muttered.

"Says the boy who almost cried when he got slushie'd," she replied sarcastically.

Finn bit his lip and tried not to glare at her.

"You're just like your father, you know that?" Mouse said a few moments later.

"I'm nothing like that bastard," he ground out, his teeth grinding together.

"Yes, you are. You're exactly like him... Don't look at me like that Hudson," she added, turning him around to apply more cream to the bruises on his back. "Your dad ran out on your mum before she gave birth to you. You're doing the exact same thing to Quinn. Sure, the baby might not be yours, but you were dating her, and you promised to help her. She's confused, scared, and so bloody sorry she spent the whole night crying in her sleep."

Finn was silent and bit the inside of his cheek, but it was obvious that he was listening to her.

"She wants you to be there for her, even if you're not there as a boyfriend, she just needs you as a friend. You've known her since she was four years old, Finn, are you really going to let your best girl friend go through everything alone? If you do, you'll be just like your father, not in the fact that he ran off with his secretary, but in the fact that you're leaving Quinn when she needs you the most," Mouse said, then threw him his shirt. "Have a shower during your break after lunch. You need to let the arnica cream work before you go wash it off."

Pulling his shirt on gingerly, Finn nodded and left the nurse's office. He ignored Puck who was sitting outside, and kept walking to his locker, thinking hard.

"Don't look so happy, Puckerman, you're just as bad as he is. And get those thoughts out of your head," she added when Puck's gaze travelled to her legs.

"How am I as bad as him? Quinn **chose** him, remember?"

SLAP!

"Sit down, shirt off, and shut up," Mouse said, running her hot hand under cold water.

Stunned, Puck fell back onto the small bed. He pulled his shirt off with a glare.

"You too, made a promise to help Quinn. You said that you'd help her in the way that Finn couldn't. Sure, you were just trying to make him look bad, but you still made a promise, and that should mean something to you, Puckerman. Your mother would be disappointed if she knew how many promises you've broken, how many lies you've told, and how exactly you got Quinn Fabray pregnant."

"How do you know about that?" Puck asked, his face stinging.

"I said for you to shut up," she replied, glaring. Despite her tone and words, she was just as gentle with Puck as she had been with Finn when applying the arnica cream to his bruises. "Your dad did the same thing Finn's did; run off when your mum needed him the most. And you're not your dead-beat dad, are you?" Mouse asked. "Or should I say that you're exactly like him? You made a promise, and by going back on it, you're just like him. A dead-beat bastard, isn't that right?"

"All right, I get it," he muttered sourly, turning around so she could heal the bruises on his back. "I'm stupid and I should be there for both of them."

"I'm not the one you should be telling," Mouse said quietly, concentrating on a larger bruise.

Puck would have nodded if he didn't think the motion would have hurt him.

"Is it true that you dated Rachel just because she's Jewish?" Mouse asked after a long stretch of silence.

"What? How did you ... Never mind," he muttered, already knowing what she'd say if he finished asking the question. "Why do you want to know?"

"If you don't date me because I'm not Jewish, you'll regret it," she replied, hesitating a moment.

Ignoring any pain he'd feel, Puck turned around to look at her.

"Are you asking me out?" he asked, incredulous.

No girl had ever asked _him_ out before - he always had to chase after _them_.

"Yes," Mouse said, sounding nervous. "Well?"

"Well what?" Puck asked, still trying to wrap his head around his currently upside-down world.

"Will you go out with me?"

"I don't date high school girls," he replied.

A feeling of shock and humiliation flowed through her, and Mouse went red in embarrassment.

"You bastard!" she snarled, going to hit him.

Puck grabbed her wrist before her hand could hit its target, and pulled her to him.

"But I'll make an exception for you," Puck said, grinning and kissing her.

...

"I already said I was sorry, what more do you want?" Puck yelled.

"For you to stay the fuck away from me, you bastard!" Finn yelled back at him.

"Stupid solid wall," Mercedes muttered, her ear pressed to it.

Standing behind her, Tina had her ear against the wall as well, her eyes scrunched shut as she tried to hear the muffled yells.

"Here, try this," Kurt said, offering Mercedes a glass.

"What are you three doing?" Mouse asked, seeing them pressed up against the auditorium wall.

"Shhh..." Mercedes said.

"Puck and Finn are arguing," Tina answered quickly.

"Again? They'd better not be throwing any punches this time," Mouse grumbled, moving past them to walk into the auditorium.

"What do you mean, _again_? When did they fight before?" Kurt asked, but she was already inside the auditorium.

"Should we follow her?" Tina asked.

"Hell yes," Mercedes said quickly, going to the auditorium door.

They sat at the very back of the seats, watching as Mouse made her way to the stage, where Finn and Puck were yelling at each other.

"You fucking bastard! You were my best friend!" Finn yelled at him.

"I still am!" Puck replied, his voice raising.

"Not when you get **my** girlfriend pregnant!" Finn yelled, moving to hit him.

A loud whistle sounded through the auditorium, faltering Finn's progress. Both Finn and Puck looked around, spotting Mouse at the end of the stage. Kurt, Mercedes and Tina all dropped further down so they wouldn't be seen.

"I've already patched the two of you up one time today, and I have the right to refuse to do it again. Finn, Puck, get your arses off that stage and come down here right fucking now!" Mouse said, pointing to the ground in front of her.

Still glaring at each other, they made their way over and stood in front of her meekly. Moving quickly, Mouse grabbed their ears and twisted them painfully. Their howls of pain echoed in the auditorium, and she twisted harder until their yells became whimpers.

"Apologise this instant, and mean it or I'll cause you **more** pain!" she snarled. "I do not have time for this, and Sectionals are next week, so neither do you!"

"I already apologis..." Puck began to say, then yelled again when his knee was kicked out and he crumpled to the ground. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"What are you sorry for?" Mouse asked, her words clipped.

"I'm sorry for sleeping with Quinn, for lying to you, and I'm sorry that you think we're not friends!" he said, looking up at Finn.

"Finn, your turn," Mouse said.

He shook his head stubbornly and a second later, he was on the ground too, his knee kicked out as well.

"I'm sorry for punching you," Finn muttered briefly.

"Like you mean it, Finn," Mouse said, glaring down at him.

"I'm sorry for punching you, all right? You're still a fucking bastard though," he muttered, glaring at Puck.

"Technically, you're both bastards. Get over it," Mouse said, rolling her eyes. "Now, get your arses off the floor and shake hands already!"

Slowly and reluctantly, Finn and Puck got up and shook hands.

"Good, now practice on making it look credible... Oh, and check your emails sometime today, I've sent you all something. Tell the others for me, would you, Kurt?" Mouse asked as she left the auditorium.

A few minutes later, Mr. Schuester came in through the other door, the rest of the Glee members arriving soon after to begin their morning practice.

Kurt whispered Mouse's message to the others quickly while Will was busy getting out their papers and helping the band set up. Unable to wait for the chance to get a computer, Rachel pulled out her phone and accessed the internet through that. Within seconds of logging onto her school account through it and opening the email, the rest of the Glee members were all crowded around her to look at the email too. It was a simple message, and only one line long.

_Candy will be attending school tomorrow - look after him for me_.

They all looked at each other, Puck and Finn's gazes lingering as they apologised silently.

"All right, good to see you're all so enthusiastic!" Will said excitedly, seeing them all standing together. "Here's your music for today," he added, handing the sheets out.

"_It's raining men_? No way, Schue! I refuse to sing that," Puck said, shaking his head.

"Spoilsport," Kurt muttered, grinning at Mercedes.

"Well, what do you suggest?" Will asked in a slight huff, folding his arms.

"_The sweetest thing _by U2," Puck said, his eyes flashing a challenge.

"Why that song?" Will asked, not recognising the challenge.

"Because it's a song that was written as an apology, that's why. I say we sing it to Mouse and get her back here," Puck said, glaring again.

"I agree with you on that one, Puck, however I think it should be Mr. Schuester that sings the song," Rachel said, folding her arms.

"All right! That is enough! I know that what I did was wrong, and I understand that you're all upset about it! I can't take it back, as much as I want to!"

"Have you even tried to fix it, Mr. Schue?" Quinn asked.

He opened and closed his mouth a few times, then turned away. "From the top! Now!" he yelled, his voice almost cracking.

"Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah," Mercedes began, her sheet music falling to the ground.

"My love, she throws me,  
Like a rubber ball," Finn sang.

Behind them, the band hurried to find the right music.

"Oh, oh, oh, the sweetest thing," the others sang.

"She won't catch me,  
Or break my fall," Finn continued.

"Oh, oh, oh, the sweetest thing."

"Baby got blue skies up ahead,  
But in this I'm a rain cloud,  
You know she likes a dry kind of love," Finn sang, looking over at Rachel.

"Oh, oh, oh the sweetest thing," they sang, Rachel's eyes flicking to Finn.

"I'm losing you, yeah.  
I'm losing you, hey," Finn sang, now looking at Quinn.

"Ain't love the sweetest thing?"

"I wanted to run,  
But she made crawl," he sang, his hand to his heart.

"Oh, oh, oh, the sweetest thing," the others continued to sing.

Mike put his arm around Santana's shoulders, grinning when she looked at him.

"Eternal fire,  
She turned me to straw," Finn sang.

"Oh, oh, oh the sweetest thing."

"You know I got black eyes,  
But they burn so brightly for her.  
Guess it's a blind kind of love," Finn sang, his eyes locking on Rachel's again.

"Oh, oh, oh, the sweetest thing."

"I'm losing you,  
I'm losing you, yeah."

"Ain't love the sweetest thing?  
Oh, oh, oh, the sweetest thing.  
Oh ho, yay," they sang, Finn still singing the lead.

"Blue eyed boy,  
Meets a brown-eyed girl."

"Oh, oh, oh the sweetest thing."

"You can sew it up,  
But you still see the tear," Finn sang.

"Oh, oh, oh the sweetest thing," they sang, Puck looking at Schue and wondering if their message was getting through yet.

"Baby's got blue skies up ahead,  
And in this I'm a rain cloud.  
You know we got a stormy kind of love," Finn sang, a grin on his face.

"Oh, oh, oh, the sweetest thing."

"Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do," they all sang together.

"My love!"

"The sweetest thing,  
Oh, oh, oh, the sweeetest thing," they all finished singing, their sheets of music around them on the stage.

Will shook his head and left the auditorium.

...

"Welcome to McKinley High. I'm sure you'll be very happy here," Figgins said, looking at Candon.

Candy whimpered slightly and tried to move behind his mother.

"Stop being a baby, Candon! You're a big boy, now get in there already," Sarah muttered to him, pushing him forward towards the school building.

"Come on, Candy. Let's go inside now," Mouse murmured, taking his hand and walking into the school slowly.

Sarah rolled her eyes and turned to Figgins, her eyes wide. "Make sure my boy is all right, will you?" she simpered.

"Of course, Mrs. Franklin. He will be fine!" he reassured her.

She just nodded and then left to the car park.

"Hey, Candy kid!" Puck said, seeing Candy and Mouse at the lockers. "You all right?" he asked Mouse, seeing that Candy was clutching her arm tightly.

"Fine. He shouldn't be here; he is so scared," Mouse murmured, stroking Candy's hair gently. "Calm down, sweetie. Everything will be all right, and if it isn't, you tell me at lunch, understand?"

Candy nodded, but didn't let go of her arm.

"Who's he got homegroup with?" Puck asked.

"Mrs. Komp, with the other disabled kids," Mouse replied. "I'd better take him there and make sure he's all right," she said, sighing softly. "Come on, sweetie. Let's go meet your new teacher," she said, guiding her brother down the hall.

Candy followed dutifully, his grip on her arm not lessening. A minute or two later, they were standing outside Mrs. Komp's classroom. Mouse tried to get Candy to go inside, but he wouldn't listen and refused to budge, shaking his head determinedly.

"Hello, I like your backpack," a voice said behind them.

"Oh, hi Becky. How are you?" Mouse asked, smiling at Becky Jackson.

"Good. Coach put me on the team, and I'm working on my skipping. It's hard, but I like it. Coach is nice," Becky said, smiling brightly.

"That's really good, Becky. I'm so proud of you," Mouse said, hugging her around the shoulders.

"Hi Candy," Becky said, smiling at him too.

"Hi Becky!" he said happily, but still didn't let go of Mouse's arm.

"I like your backpack," Becky repeated.

"_To infinity and beyond_!" Candy said, grinning. His grip loosened slightly.

"Hello there. Who's your new friend, Becky?" Mrs. Komp asked kindly, smiling at them.

"This is Candy. He's an old friend. We're in the hospital group together," Becky replied.

"Oh, that's nice. You'll have someone to sit with in homegroup, Candy. Why don't you come in, and we can decorate your nametag together?" Mrs. Komp suggested, holding Candy's free hand.

He pulled it away sharply and tried to hide behind Mouse shyly.

"Sorry, Mrs. Komp. He's really shy, and he's never been to school before. Candy's just really nervous," Mouse said, stroking his head to calm him.

"He's never been to school?" Mrs. Komp asked in surprise.

"No, Candy's always been tutored by Anne," Mouse replied.

"Oh," Mrs. Komp said, sighing briefly. "Well, I'll have to see what stage he's up to at the moment. Anne isn't known for her progression," she muttered under her breath, her words not meant to be heard.

"Pardon?" Mouse asked in disbelief.

"Oh, nothing. Come on Candy, let's go inside now. Becky, you too," Mrs. Komp said, taking Candy's hand again.

Becky took her other hand and went inside, encouraging Candy to follow. He did so reluctantly, looking back at Mouse with the most forlorn and upset expression she'd ever seen on her usually-happy brother. Gathering all her breath, she smiled and waved at him, holding her breath until she made her way down to her own locker to keep from crying.

"You okay, Mouse?" Puck asked, waiting beside her locker.

"He looks so miserable, Puck. What if he gets teased in class? He's only a freshman, and I don't know what those kids are like. Do you think they'll tease him?"

He could tell that all Mouse wanted him to do was tell her everything would be all right, and that Candy would be fine, but Puck didn't want her to get her hopes up like that.

"They might tease him. I think most of them are all right, but there's always one asshole in class that will pick on the smallest person," Puck said, his tone gentle.

Mouse bit her lip, her eyes looking back down the corridor to Mrs. Komp's classroom.

"I thought you'd say something like that," she replied, sighing.

The bell rang loudly, and she hurried to get her things for her first classes before going to homegroup with Puck.

...

"Do you see him? I can't see him," Mouse said, her hands clenching and unclenching by her sides.

"Mouse, calm down. He's probably fine!" Quinn said, but she too was looking around the cafeteria for Candy.

"Finn, you look for him. You're the tallest," Rachel said, nudging him.

Finn nodded quickly, wiping the sauce from his sandwich on the back of his hand. Standing up, he looked over everyone's heads, attempting to find one in a sea of hundreds. Frowning when he couldn't see Candy anywhere, Finn moved to stand up on the table to look again.

"I don't see him," he said after another minute, getting off the table.

"Oh, god. What if someone stole his lunch? Or what if they put him in his locker? He wouldn't know how to deal with that... Ugh, I feel sick," Mouse said, dropping onto her seat and putting her head in her hands.

"He's probably in the auditorium, Mouse. He has to go past there to get here, so he probably saw the stage and wanted to sing," Mercedes said, patting Mouse's shoulders as she looked to Tina meaningfully.

"Y-yeah, let's go l-look for him," Tina said, getting off her seat.

The others all stood and left, Kurt and Mercedes holding Puck and Finn back.

"Finn, you go check all the toilets, make sure he hasn't gotten a swirly. Puck, you check his locker, make sure he's not in it," she muttered. "Then check anywhere else you think he might be. We'll check the bins," Mercedes said, Kurt nodding.

Both Finn and Puck nodded and left the cafeteria quickly.

"I almost pity the person who's done something to Candy," Kurt said with a sigh, and then left the cafeteria with Mercedes.

...

"Candy! Where are you?" Mouse called.

They'd checked the auditorium twice, only to find that he wasn't there. Mouse had even asked Mrs. Komp if she knew where Candy was, in case she'd kept him back during lunch. Mrs. Komp didn't know where Candy was, but suggested a few places they might look.

After five minutes, Mercedes and Kurt returned saying that Candy wasn't in the bins. Finn came back soon after to inform them that Candy wasn't in any of the toilets, and that Finn had been banned from even looking at the girls' toilets forevermore.

They continued to look through the school, Mouse even checking the library, setting foot in there for the first time since quitting. She ignored Mrs. Lemay, too worried about Candy to care about anything the woman had to say.

"Where's Puck?" Artie asked almost ten minutes later.

"We told him to check Candy's locker, and then said to check anywhere else he could think of. I didn't think he'd take this long," Mercedes replied, frowning.

"Someone call him, find out where he is and see if he's found Candy," Kurt said immediately.

Brittany, Tina and Santana pulled their phones out immediately.

"Put it on loudpseaker," Mouse added when Brittany nodded that she'd gotten through.

"Hey, I've found Candy," Puck's voice came through the small speaker on the phone.

"Where is he?" Mouse asked quickly.

"Football oval. You've got to come and see this, you won't believe it," Puck said, the call cutting off.

Frowning at each other, they all hurried outside.

The football team was sitting on the bottom row of the bleachers, Candy sitting in the middle of them. His _Toy Story_ bag was on his shoulders, his _Cars_ lunchbox on his lap. He looked safe and unharmed, but Mouse still had to make sure. Running over to the bleachers, she went over to where they were sitting.

"Candy! What are you guys doing with my brother?" she asked, glaring at them all.

"We didn't want him to get teased in the cafeteria, so we brought him out here instead," Terrence replied.

"How did you get him out here?" Mouse asked warily, frowning.

"I piggy-backed him out," Terrence answered, his face darkening.

"Mousie! Sweet has lots of friends!" Candy said happily, hugging Terrence around the neck.

"That's good, Candy. That's very good," Mouse said, sighing as she sat down.

"Where's Kent?" Finn asked as the other Glee members came over and sat down too, looking wary.

"Not here," a jock said with a grin.

"Why not?"

"He teased our boy Candy here, so we told him to get lost," Terrence said, grinning broader.

"You did that for my brother?" Mouse asked, stunned.

"Yeah. We don't want you hurting us," he said, grinning. "Kent's only just able to feel his balls, and I like mine enough to not want them blue for the rest of my life," Kent said, laughing.

"No swearing or crude words around Candy. He copies," Mouse said, looking at her brother.

He didn't seem to have heard what Terrence had said, and was eating his peanut butter and jelly sandwich happily enough.

"Right. Well, we didn't think you'd mind if we brought him out here. We made sure no one did anything after his classes either," Terrence added.

"Why? Was someone going to do something?" Mouse asked quickly.

"No, nothing like that," another one replied, hitting Terrence's shoulder.

"He was fine. Singing and the like," Terrence replied, rubbing his shoulder and glaring back at his friend.

"What was he singing?" Mouse asked.

Terrence shrugged, looking at the others around him for an answer.

"_Hakuna Matata_. You know, the song from Lion King," a brunette one said, reddening when the other jocks looked at him critically.

"Don't give him that look; you all danced to Beyonce's _Single Ladies_ just two weeks ago!" Mouse said, shaking her head at them. "Younger sister or brother?"

"Both. My sister's in pre-school, and my brother's in grade three," he said with a slight grin of pride.

Candy rested his head on Mouse's shoulder, yawning slightly.

"Sweet tired. Sleepy sweet," he murmured, smiling as he snuggled into her.

"Have you eaten anything yet, Mouse?" Puck asked a moment later.

She shook her head. She'd been too busy worrying about Candy to even think about eating.

"There's still food in Candy's lunchbox if you want that," Terrence said, noticing the carefully wrapped carrot sticks in the box.

"He should eat his vegetables," Mouse said, shaking her head.

"Oh, come on. He's asleep, and you can just put some in his dinner if you're that worried. Eat," Puck said, holding the lunchbox out to her.

Mouse sighed and took the carrots out, eating them slowly. Candy slept, blissfully unaware of the conversations around him, until the bell rang to signify that lunch was over. Mouse woke up him, singing softly to rouse him. He woke with such a bright smile that more than one heart beat with envy at his ability to be so carefree.

...

"Hi, kids! How was your first day at school together? Did you love it?" Sarah called, waving to them from the carpark.

"Oh, god. Why?" Mouse moaned, her head turning to try and hide on Puck's shoulder.

The mothers that were waiting for their younger children were all standing along the path, Sarah separate from them by a distance. By the smile on her face and the way she was waving, it seemed that she didn't care, but Mouse knew that the moment they were inside the car, it would be all she'd hear about.

Candy gripped Mouse's hand tightly. He didn't like the way Sarah drove, neither did Mouse for that matter, and Candy often cried whenever she tried to take him out in the car. He'd been too sleepy to cry this morning, not used to waking up and needing to get ready for school.

"Do you want me to walk you home?" Puck asked Mouse quietly as they headed over to Sarah.

"No, she won't let me live that down. I'll see you tomorrow. You've got Glee practice tomorrow; don't forget," Mouse instructed firmly, sliding her arm out from around Puck's waist. He muttered under his breath, but let got of her too, kissing her forehead and glaring at Sarah who just smirked at him.

"See you tomorrow, Candy kid. Be good," Puck said, ruffling his hair.

"Good sweet!" Candy promised, then hugged Puck tightly. "Bye Pucky."

Puck grinned, ignored the looks the mothers gave him and headed out of the street and down towards his house.

"Hi, Mum. How are you?" Mouse asked, forcing herself to kiss her mother's cheek.

"Oh, I'm absolutely fine, sweetie! Your boyfriend didn't say hi to me," Sarah simpered, a glint in her eyes that made Mouse want to hit her.

"He's shy," Mouse lied, opening the back door for Candy and helping him take his bag off.

Mouse slid into the car first, hoping that Candy would follow without too much of a fuss. Sarah had insisted on driving and picking them up today, despite only being two streets away from the school. _It was Sarah's baby boy's first day, and she didn't want him to go into the school building without his mother. Not that she'd gone in anyway, but who was Mouse to argue_?

Thankfully, Candy got into the car and helped Mouse put his seatbelt on tightly.

"Good boy," Mouse murmured, reaching over him to pull the door closed.

Sarah got into the car, shutting her door loudly. "Bloody bitches didn't even say hi to me," Sarah muttered, glaring out at the mothers greeting their own children.

Mouse sighed, held Candy's hand and hoped that their mother would just drive straight home and not take the scenic route just so she could bitch and complain for longer.

"I was waiting there for a whole fifteen minutes, and not one said hello! How rude can you get?" Sarah muttered as she pulled out of the carpark.

Mouse bit her lip to keep from almost screaming: a car had been turning into the street towards them, and had only narrowly missed them. The car's horn blasted behind them, and she looked at Candy to see he had his eyes scrunched tightly.

"I think Candy needs the bathroom, Mum," Mouse said as they neared their street.

If Sarah didn't turn now, then they'd be on the scenic route that didn't really exist, and there was no knowing how long that would take. Luck seemed to be on their side, or Sarah just loved her car more than she did bitching, and she hurried to turn into their street.

"The teacher's should let him go to the toilet before he leaves!" Sarah muttered. "You two can walk from now on," she added, pulling into the driveway sharply.

"All right. Come on Candy, let's get you inside to the bathroom," Mouse murmured, taking her brother's belt off when the car came to a complete stop.

Sarah went to open the front door, and Candy hurried to get out of the car, clutching his bag to his chest tightly. The moment Candy was inside, he went straight into the lounge room and pulled his toy box and cars out.

"Thought you said he needed the toilet?" Sarah asked Mouse.

"Guess I was wrong," Mouse said with a shrug, taking her bag upstairs to her room.

...

End of the tenth chapter. Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!

...


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee. I only own Mouse, Candy, Sarah, Terrence and Josh.

(a/n: _thanks to everyone for reviewing, I appreciate it!_

_Read on, oh faithful ones..._)

...

_Chapter Eleven_

...

Puck didn't know why he was so nervous. He'd been on dates so many times before and he'd always been fine. But this was different; _Mouse_ was different to the type of girls he'd dated before. He rang the doorbell, wiping his hands on his jeans quickly.

"Coming!" Mouse called, opening the door a few moments later. An onslaught of noise hit Puck and he tried to figure out what they were. "Hey Puck. Come in," she said, hurrying back to the lounge room.

Puck frowned, recognising one of the noises as Candy crying.

"What's going on?" he asked, closing the door after stepping inside.

"Mum went off to play tennis this morning, and can't look after Candy today. I think she did it on purpose," Mouse muttered as she tried to get Candy to sit still. "She gave Candy scissors and glue to play with, so he's got glue and lots of paper cuts on his hands. Lucky it wasn't anything worse, isn't it, sweetie?" she asked, trying to smile and get his tears to stop.

"And the TV and music?" Puck said, practically having to yell as both the TV and radio were turned on and loud.

"I stepped on the TV remote by accident," Mouse said, moving her foot to turn the TV off.

The noise faded, leaving only the radio and Candy's quietening sobs.

"Such a brave boy. Want to listen to music?" Mouse asked, smiling at her brother.

He nodded briefly, tears still rolling down his cheeks. His fingers were covered in Mickey Mouse bandaids.

Mouse changed the stereo to the CD option and put in a disc that had 'Candy' written on the surface.

"Disney songs?" Puck presumed.

"His favourites," Mouse replied with a nod. "A couple of the _Disneymania_ songs too. Not the Jonas Brothers though, they scare him," she added, shrugging slightly. "Want to play _Halo 3_?"

"'Kay," he replied, looking to Candy for a moment.

He was lying on the floor, colouring pictures of Toy Story characters carefully with large markers and humming along to the music under his breath.

"He'll be fine. I already took the scissors and glue away," Mouse added with a slight smile, heading upstairs.

Putting his guitar by the door, Puck followed her upstairs and into her room. Sitting on the bed with a control, Puck waited impatiently for the game to load.

"Ready to get your arse kicked?" Mouse asked with a cackle.

"Dream on, Mouse," he muttered, his thumbs and fingers already poised over the buttons.

Ten minutes later, Puck was shamed to find that he was getting his arse kicked. Royally kicked all over the damned screen! He blamed Mouse for distracting him. She shouldn't have her legs bent like that, giving him a perfect view of her ankles, or her thighs if he leant back just a bit more...

"Ha! You're dead! _Again_," Mouse crowed, punching the air in victory.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Puck moved so he could kiss her, his body ontop of hers as she fell back onto the mattress.

_He wanted one of those legs around him, his body over hers as he pushed into her, watching as she bit her bottom lip_...

Puck kissed her harder, his tongue slipping into her mouth. His hands moved to her hips, holding and caressing them as he tried to slip his hand up her shirt.

Mouse pushed his hand away and struggled to sit up under his weight. Puck moved his body off hers reluctantly, his lips swollen.

"Do you hear that?" she asked, frowning.

"It's the TV," Puck said, moving to kiss her again.

"Not that," Mouse said, muting the TV. "_That_," she said, a noise becoming clearer.

Puck frowned as he recognised the sound of guitar strings being plucked, then realised what had happened.

"Candy's got my guitar," he said, going to the door to head downstairs.

"You might want to wait a minute, Puckerman," Mouse called, getting off the bed and fixing her shirt.

Puck stopped suddenly and moved away from the door. She laughed softly, kissed his cheek and then went downstairs to get Puck's guitar back.

...

"Jane! Wait a moment, will you?" Will said as Candy went into the auditorium with Puck and the other Glee members.

Despite not being in Glee anymore, Mouse hadn't wanted Candy walking to school on his own, and had come along with him. He'd entered the school gates much quicker this time, only hesitating for two minutes before going inside.

"Sorry, Mr. Schue, I've got to get to the computer room and work on my English assignment," Mouse said, hefting her bag up onto her shoulder properly.

"Just one minute," Will said, holding up a finger, before rushing into the auditorium.

"I'm timing you, Schue," Mouse muttered, looking down at her watch.

Forty-five seconds later, Will was back outside the auditorium.

"I just wanted to say thank you," he said, his cheeks reddening slightly.

"About what?" Mouse asked.

"The newspaper article about my Mum and Josh Groban. Thank you for not letting that get out into the student population," Will said with a quick smile.

"You're welcome. I'd hate to see you have a nervous breakdown because you were teased. If that's all..." Mouse trailed off, shrugging as she turned to leave.

"I'm sorry, Jane," Will called.

"I know you are," Mouse replied, not turning back.

...

"All right, everyone get your music sheets and get ready to take it from the top," Will said, grinning at them all.

"The hell to that! We want to know what happened!" Mercedes said.

"Mousie?" Candy asked Puck in a loud whisper, tugging on the older boys' shirt.

"Yeah, where is Mouse?" Quinn asked, looking behind Will pointedly.

"Not here, Candy kid," Puck replied quietly. "She's not in Glee anymore."

"No Mousie?" Candy asked, his bottom lip trembling when Puck nodded. "No Mousie, sweet no sing!" he said, and sat on the stage promptly, his arms folded.

"He wants sweets at this time?" Will asked, frowning.

"He calls himself sweet," Puck answered. "He means that if Mouse isn't here, then he won't sing," he added when Will's look of confusion just increased.

"Come on, guys! I apologised, she forgave me, now let's just move on," Will said, sighing heavily.

"Details are needed before we can go on," Kurt said primly, sitting on the edge of the stage and crossing his legs, folding his hands in his lap.

"I agree," Rachel said, sitting beside him and grinning at Kurt.

He smiled back for a brief moment, then looked to his other Glee members as they too, sat down on the stage, refusing to sing.

Will sighed heavily, rubbing his face wearily. _Sectionals was only a week away - they didn't have time for this_! Giving up, he told them what had happened, and was confused when they didn't look overly happy.

"Just because she said she knew you were sorry doesn't mean Mouse forgave you, Mr. Schue," Artie said with a frown, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"What are you on about? Of course it does," Schue said, looking to the other male members to get their confirmation.

They all shook their heads, even the guys in the band.

"Want Mousie!" Candy said stubbornly.

"Let's just sing for now, and I'll apologise to Mouse again later. How about that?" Schue asked, feeling completely lost as to how he was going to handle this new problem.

"Maybe next time, offer for Mouse to actually come back into Glee club? You can't just apologise and think that's it," Quinn said, rolling her eyes.

"Women are far more complicated than that, Mr. Schue. I'm surprised you don't know that from your wife," Rachel added.

Will pulled a slight face at the mention of his wife. He was beginning to suspect that she wasn't actually pregnant. But his doubts had nothing to do with this...

"Terri has nothing to do with this; Mouse is a teenager, you are **all** teenagers! Now get onto the stage and sing! Sectionals are only next week!" he said, his voice ready to crack.

In the computer lab down the corridor, Mouse was sitting at a computer, her headphones in her ears. There was no music playing- it was just a ruse to keep anyone from disturbing her. Left to her own devices, Mouse thought of Rachel, Finn and Quinn's predicament, then opened a document and started typing.

_Waiting, waiting, still waiting,  
Can time go any faster?  
Seems to stand still while  
I'm waiting, waiting, waiting for you._

_Come here, stand by my side,  
We'll wait together.  
Impatient as always,  
Still waiting, waiting, waiting for you._

_We don't mind being with you,  
Or sharing your time,  
It's just the waiting we hate.  
Waiting, waiting, waiting for you. _

_Waiting for you to..._

_Make up your mind,  
Stop wasting our time.  
You're always contemplating,  
Still keeping us waiting, waiting, waiting._

_We're not gonna wait any longer,  
'Cause together we're stronger.  
Watch us walk away from here,  
__Not waiting, waiting, waiting for you_.

Saving the song to her USB drive, Mouse checked the time and quickly sent it as an attachment to the Glee members. They could do what they wanted with it.

Just as the email finished sending, the early morning bell rang, and after taking a moment to close the programs and log off the computer, Mouse headed down to the auditorium to check on Candy and walk him to his homeroom.

...

"Hey, girl. Where's Candy?" Mercedes asked as she sat next to Mouse at lunch.

"With Puck, Finn and the other jocks. Football practice; seems he's their newest mascot," Mouse replied, shrugging slightly.

"They won't try to make him play, will they?" Kurt asked immediately.

"Doubt it; they know I'll seriously hurt them if he even gets a scratch," Mouse growled. "How's Glee practice going?" she asked, trying to change the subject. "Ready for Sectionals yet?"

"You can ask Mr. Schue yourself, he's coming this way," Santana said, grinning.

"Mouse, there you are. Would you mind coming with me for a moment?" Mr. Schue asked, grinning briefly as he indicated the school building behind them.

"I'm eating my lunch so I would mind, but I doubt that would have any impact on anything, so let's go," she muttered sarcastically, standing up and brushing her crumbs off. "Don't eat my sandwich," Mouse added over her shoulder to her friends as she followed Schue to the school building.

"Thanks for coming; sorry to interrupt your lunch, but this is really the only time I have free to be able to say this, see?" Will said, holding up his own sandwich as proof.

"I believe you. What is it that you wanted to say?" Mouse asked, looking back to her own lunch with longing.

"I'm really sorry about what I did... You know, with Candy and your mum," Will started off. "I just wanted to make sure you accepted my apology this time."

"Fine, I accept your apology," Mouse said.

"I tried, you know. I wasn't even going to put his forms in, and then Figgins came in and took the forms from my desk before I even got a chance to say no," Will said.

"I said that I accepted your apology, Mr. Schue. What's done is done, so can we just leave it now?" Mouse asked, sighing.

"I want you to come back to Glee," Will said finally.

"Pardon?"

"I want you to come back to Glee. The other kids want you back too, and Candy won't even think about singing if you're not part of it," he added, hoping to change her mind.

"So you just want me back in order to get Candy to sing?"

"Yes! Wait. No. That's not what I meant," Schue said, his brows furrowing as he frowned deeply.

Mouse folded her arms across her chest and waited.

"I mean, the entire club wants you to back and sing. Me included. Please, Mouse, it'd mean a lot to the other kids, your brother especially," Will pleaded.

"I'll think about it, all right? I'm too hungry to think straight now," Mouse muttered, watching Will's sandwich enviously.

"Great. You go think about it. Tell me your decision tomorrow morning before Glee practice when you bring Candy, okay?" Will said. "And don't forget he's got solo practice this afternoon," he added.

Mouse nodded and went back to her friend and her lunch. Will grinned, confident that Mouse would sing, and whistled cheerfully on his way back to the staff room.

...

"Got another email from Mouse. Reckon you can get the jazz band to put some music to it, Artie?" Puck asked, handing him the lyrics.

Taking the sheet with one hand, and using his other hand to roll back and forth on the spot, Artie looked at the lyrics, singing them quietly under his breath.

"Yeah, they're good; I'm sure they can work something out," Artie replied with a nod.

"I want to sing it tomorrow morning. Are they that good?" Puck asked, smirking.

"We'll see soon enough," Artie said with a chuckle, rolling down the corridor to the auditorium.

Tina watched as he went by, her fingers playing with the bottom of her frayed shirt nervously.

...

Mouse headed to the auditorium, still undecided as to whether she should go back to Glee. She enjoyed singing - _all right, she loved singing_ - and she had friends... But she still didn't trust Will enough to think that he wouldn't betray her again.

Sighing heavily, Mouse opened the auditorium door and saw Candy sitting on the stage, singing to the piano that Kurt was sitting at and playing. Candy's entire face was lit up with joy, even with his eyes closed.

"There's a calm surrender,  
To the rush of day.  
When the heat of the rolling world,  
Can be turned away.  
An enchanted moment,  
And it sees me through.  
It's enough for this restless warrior,  
Just to be with you."

Candy opened his eyes and saw Mouse at the back of the auditorium. He smiled brightly, never once dropping a note, and waved for her to come to the stage.

"And can you feel the love tonight?  
It is where we are.  
It's enough for this wide-eyed wanderer,  
That we got this far.  
And can you feel the love tonight?  
How it's laid to rest?  
It's enough to make kings and vagabonds,  
Believe the very best."

Mouse sighed softly and moved to where Candy was sitting. It was only as she approached the stage, that she realised Puck was sitting near the back of the stage, his guitar in his hands as he played with the piano.

_How had she not heard the guitar before_?

"There's a time for everyone,  
If they only learn,  
That the twisting kaleidoscope,  
Moves us all in turns.  
There's a rhyme and reason,  
To the wild outdoors.  
When the heart of this star-crossed voyager,  
Beats in time with yours."

Candy opened his eyes again, smiled and held his hand out to Mouse so she would sing with him. Smiling at him, she nodded and sang the last part with him softly. Candy's sweet voice seemed to wrap around everything, lifting it into the air as he sang.

"And can you feel the love tonight?  
It is where we are.  
It's enough for this wide-eyed wanderer,  
That we got this far.  
And can you feel the love tonight?  
How it's led to this?  
It's enough to make kings and vagabonds,  
Believe the very best.

"It's enough to make kings and vagabonds,  
Believe the very best."

"Such a beautiful song," Kurt whispered from the piano, looking down at the keys beneath his fingers.

"It's my favourite song," Mouse said, smiling. "How's Candy going?" she asked Kurt.

"Great," he said with a sigh. "He sings in tune, on pitch, and I could almost loathe him for it. But he's far too sweet for such a negative emotion," Kurt said as he walked over, sitting beside Candy. "If I could bottle his voice, I'd be the richest person in the world," he said with a sigh, his head resting on his hand.

"It's Candy's voice, so shouldn't he be the rich one?" Puck asked as he came over, grinning.

"Technicalities," Kurt said with a wave of his hand. "Schue told us about what happened at lunch. Are you coming back to sing?" he asked, turning his attention to Mouse once more.

"I don't know yet," Mouse said, sighing heavily.

"Mousie sing, sweet sing! Sweet only sing with Mousie," Candy said determinedly.

"Oh, don't say that, sweetie. You love singing," Mouse murmured, stroking his hair briefly.

"So do you," Puck said, looking down at her from his position on the stage.

"I can deal with the loss; Candy can't," she replied.

"Mousie sing!" Candy said, bopping his head to music that only he could hear.

"I'll think about it, okay?" Mouse said, smiling. "Ready to go home now, sweetie?"

Candy nodded enthusiastically, hopping off the stage and running over to his bag. He was humming the _Toy Story_ song as he put his bag on his shoulders, clipping the straps together over his stomach carefully.

"Such a big boy," Mouse said proudly, kissing the top of his head.

Candy wiped at his head quickly, but still grinned.

"See you tomorrow morning, guys," Mouse said as she took Candy's hand.

He waved goodbye to Kurt and Puck as well. "Bye Pucky! Bye Kurtie!" Candy called, leaving with his sister happily.

"Kurtie," Puck snorted, laughing at the expression on Kurt's face.

"Shut up, Pucky," Kurt said primly, turning on his heel. "All right, you can all come out now," he called.

From behind the stage's curtains, the rest of the Glee club came out. The members of the jazz band followed soon after, setting up their equipment quickly.

"You really think this'll work?" Quinn asked, looking at the lyrics in her hands.

"Hope so," Puck said, shrugging. "If not, well, we'll have something new for Mr. Schue to choreograph... Not that he really deserves it," he muttered under his breath.

"All right, let's get this thing started," Mercedes called, grinning over at Kurt.

"Waiting, waiting, still waiting,  
Can time go any faster?  
Seems to stand still while  
I'm waiting, waiting, waiting for you," Quinn began to sing.

Outside the school building, Mouse was walking home with Candy, watching as her brother jumped over the lines in the pavement. How he still had so much energy was beyond her!

"Sing, sing, sing," Candy said with every jump he took.

She just hoped he'd be tired by the time they made it home. Mouse wasn't quite so lucky, and Candy had enough energy to run around the lounge room the moment they walked in. Sarah had left a note to say she wouldn't be home that night, and Mouse sighed in relief, even as Candy started to spin around in circles.

Mouse had two assignments to finish by the end of the week, and didn't have time or mental patience to deal with her overactive brother today. Sighing heavily, she started to sing the only song that she knew would calm him down...

"Come with me and you'll be,  
In a world of pure imagination.  
Take a look and you'll see,  
Into your imagination," Mouse began to sing softly.

Candy stopped spinning and turned to face her. She indicated to the lounge and he sat promptly, waiting expectantly for her to continue.

"We'll begin with a spin,  
Travelling in the world of my creation,  
What we'll see will defy explanation.

"If you want to view paradise,  
Well, simply look around and view it.  
Anything you want to, do it.  
Want to change the world?  
There's nothing to it," she sang, watching as Candy's eyes began to close.

She would wake him in half an hour, so he wouldn't oversleep and be grumpy later that night. Mouse was sure that he had been given homework too, and she could help him with that.

"If you want to view paradise,  
Simply look around and view it.  
Anything you want to, do it.  
Want to change the world?  
There's nothing to it.

"There is no life I know,  
To compare with pure imagination.  
Living it, you will be free,  
If you truly wish to be," she finished quietly, Candy curling up on the lounge.

Her shoulders sagging in relief, Mouse ran a hand through her hair and headed upstairs quietly.

...

Mouse wasn't surprised to see that Rachel was the only one waiting in the auditorium when she and Candy arrived the next morning. Rachel was practising her scales, singing each note carefully as she pressed the corresponding piano key.

"Morning," Mouse called.

Rachel jumped, not having heard them come in, and quickly turned around, smiling brightly.

"Good morning. How are you both?" she asked, looking between them as she walked down to them off the stage.

"Happy!" Candy said immediately, grinning.

"Fine," Mouse said with a shrug. "You?"

"Good, thank you. I had a superb sleep, and I'm looking forward to singing with both of you this morning. That is, if you are both singing? It's Mr. Schue's decision, of course, but I honestly don't think it's wise of him to keep someone in Glee who won't perform on cue," Rachel said, her eyes on Candy for a moment. "And he's really not that good of a singer that we need him as much as Mr. Schue thinks."

There was a low growl from the entrance of the auditorium, distracting Candy's attention long enough for Mouse to slap Rachel without him seeing.

"You little bee!" she hissed, grabbing Rachel's cardigan and dragging her past the rest of the Glee members and out of the auditorium.

"That was so totally rude," Brittany said, huffing.

"Mousie angry?" Candy asked in a trembling voice.

"Oh, no, sweetie. She just needed to go to the bathroom real quick, that's all," Mercedes said quickly, smiling.

Candy nodded, but didn't look too convinced.

"Let go of me!" Rachel yelled, even as Mouse dragged her into the nearest bathroom.

"You want to know why no one in the **entire** school likes you, Rachel? It's because you're selfish and you don't **_think_** before you speak! Every little word that comes out of your mouth is about you, and you have absolutely no regard for the people around you! You might think you're a diva, but let me tell you this now: you are nothing but a spoilt little child who can sing!"

Rachel gasped in indignation, but Mouse didn't seem to hear, or even care.

"Get over yourself, and look around you! You're not the only one in the world! You're smart, but you're also an insensitive bitch! Next time you want to say something, just smile that big smile of yours and think about the people _around_ you before you say it!" Mouse said, then left the bathroom, her hands clenched to stop from hitting her again.

Rachel sank to the floor, her face stinging with the humiliation of the truth.

...

"Hey, Mouse, there you are. Have you made your decision about Glee yet?" Will asked, smiling at her brightly.

"Yes, and I'm not going to go back," Mouse replied, her hands still clenched.

"What? W-why?" Will asked, his smile fading quickly.

As she shook her head at him and neared the auditorium, Mouse frowned as she heard the song that the Glee club was singing. Opening the door, both she and Mr. Schue were surprised to see that they were singing the song Mouse had sent to them only yesterday.

"Waiting, waiting, still waiting,  
Can time go any faster?  
Seems to stand still while  
I'm waiting, waiting, waiting for you," Quinn sang.

"Come here, stand by my side,We'll wait together.  
Impatient as always,  
Still waiting, waiting, waiting for you," Tina sang in response.

"We don't mind being with you,  
Or sharing your time,  
It's just the waiting we hate.  
Waiting, waiting, waiting for you," they sang together.

"Waiting for you to..." everyone else sang, grinning when they saw Mouse and Will standing in front of the stage.

"Make up your mind,  
Stop wasting our time.  
You're always contemplating,  
Still keeping us waiting, waiting, waiting," the entire group sang.

"We're not gonna wait any longer,  
'Cause together we're stronger.  
Watch us walk away from here,  
Not waiting, waiting, waiting for you," Quinn and Tina sang.

"Wow, guys! That was great! Who's that song by? I don't think I've heard it before," Will said, frowning as he tried to place the words.

"I wrote it," Mouse said quietly, still in a state of shock.

"Yeah, Rachel was supposed to sing Tina's part, but she's not back yet," Finn said.

"I think Tina did a great job," Artie said, grinning at her.

"T-thank you," she said, smiling back at him.

"That's odd... Where is Rachel? Have any of you seen her?" Will asked, looking at each of them in turn.

No one answered, and they refused to look at him.

"I'm here, Mr. Schue," Rachel said, coming down the aisle to the stage. "Mouse, wait, don't go," she said when Mouse grabbed her bag to leave. "I'm really sorry about what I said... My mouth is bigger than my brain, and I don't always think before I speak, which is probably obvious now... What I mean to say is, I'm so very sorry about what I said about Candy, and please stay with Glee. We - I - want you to sing with us," Rachel said.

The red hand print on her cheek was still visible, but fading quickly after it had been cooled with cold water for some time.

Mouse looked at Rachel, wondering if she was sincere. She looked genuine enough... Sighing, she turned to look at each of her friends in turn and they all looked hopeful, a few even nodding for her to come back. Her eyes on Candy, Mouse smiled as he grinned at her and waved for her to join him on the stage. Her gaze flicked to Puck, who was trying to hide his own hope-filled look without much success.

"All right. I'll sing."

...

End of the eleventh chapter. Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!

...


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, trademarks, or character. I do own Mouse, Candy and Sarah.

(a/n: _thank you to everyone who reviewed, and even those who didn't. I hope you enjoy this chapter._

_Read on, oh faithful ones._)

...

_Chapter Twelve_

...

"Daddy, please. Don't make me go, I love you. I just want you to tell me that everything will be all right. Mum, please! Tell him, tell him you knew!" Quinn said, turning to her mother with pleading eyes.

"You knew? You knew about ... this?" Russell asked angrily, turning to his wife.

Judy was silent and only looked at the tumbler in her hands.

"She never said it out loud, but she knew. She's my mother. She knew," Quinn said.

"Get out. Get out of this house! Now!" her father yelled at her.

"At least give me some time to pack," Quinn begged.

"Out! Right now!" he yelled, moving to open the door.

Feeling stunned, Quinn left the house in a daze. She wished she'd had someone with her to break the news that she was pregnant. There'd been too many whispers in the cougar town lately, too many for her parents to not take notice, and besides, the bump was getting bigger. The baby was growing inside her. And despite this, she only felt alone.

...

"Hi Quinn, what's wrong?" Mouse asked the moment she answered the call.

"Why does something need to be wrong for me to call?" Quinn asked, almost choking on her tears.

"Because you've been standing outside my house for the past five minutes without moving. Get inside already, would you?" Mouse said, disconnecting the call and opening the front door.

"My parents kicked me out. I told them the truth, I had to. Too many people were talking about it, and Sue said she was going to tell them if I didn't," Quinn said as she came inside, tears running down her face.

"Every time you've come over, you end up crying. Just be thankful that Sarah's out and isn't expected back until tomorrow morning," Mouse said, shutting the door and grinning at her briefly as she offered Quinn a tissue.

"Quinnie!" Candy said excitedly, running over and hugging her surprisingly gently.

Quinn looked to Mouse for an explanation.

"I told him there was a baby growing in your stomach, and he had to be careful when he hugged you. He doesn't know his own strength and could end up hurting you otherwise," Mouse said, shrugging briefly. "You didn't get a bag?" she asked, frowning.

"Wasn't allowed one," Quinn said, shaking her head as she hugged Candy back.

"All right, sweetie, that's enough now. Don't you want to finish watching Cars?" Mouse asked when Candy pulled a face.

He grinned and let go of Quinn tightly, running back towards the lounge room.

"Don't run, Candy," Mouse said.

His running immediately slowed to a walk, and he took tiny steps in the last metre to his beanbag.

"Come upstairs, you can wear the pyjamas you had last time," Mouse said, leading Quinn up to her bedroom.

"Thank you, Mouse," Quinn said softly.

"No problem, stay as long as you like. I doubt Sarah would care, and if she does, I'll handle her. You said Sue made you tell them?" Mouse asked as she handed Quinn her pyjamas.

Quinn saw that a toothbrush was sitting on top of the folded clothes and looked at Mouse with a frown.

"You spent five whole minutes outside, I got bored and organised some things waiting for you to call," she said, grinning.

"Why didn't you just let me in?"

"You had to make the decision by yourself."

"Mousie!" Candy started yelling.

"I'll be back soon. Make yourself comfortable, okay?" Mouse said with a smile and headed downstairs. "Candy, what did I tell you about yelling after dinner?"

"Sorry," Quinn heard him whisper loudly as she shut the door behind Mouse.

A few minutes after she was changed in the pyjamas, Quinn heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," she called, and was surprised to see Candy open the door and walk in timidly.

"Can I talk to Quinnie's baby?" Candy asked shyly, his fingers interlocking nervously.

"Um, sure. I don't think she will hear you though. But you can try," Quinn added quickly when his face fell.

Candy smiled brightly and walked over, sitting on the floor in front of Quinn. He rested his head on her lap and started to whisper very softly to her stomach. She strained to hear what he was saying.

"Be good, baby. Quinnie pretty and lovely. Be good, little baby. Grow big," he was whispering. "When you big, we watch Toy Story's and Cars and Lion Kings. Be good, baby. And don't be loud after dinner," Candy said, looking up at Quinn when she laughed softly. "Think baby's hearing?"

"I think so," Quinn replied with a teary nod. "Do you want me to read to you?" she asked, seeing the picture book she'd cried over last time sitting on the bedside table.

Candy nodded eagerly and sat up properly.

From the doorway, Mouse smiled and then left to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

...

Will was searching for his tie, trying to find something for the school photo. He couldn't find one that he wanted to show Terri in his drawers, or in the wardrobe, or even in the bathroom._ Where was the damn thing_?

Spotting his wife's chest of drawers, he went over and opened the top one, rummaging through to find what he was looking for. Will stilled when he saw a pregnancy pad at the back of Terri's drawer. He vaguely heard her call something to him, but it was lost in his mind as he strode to the kitchen, the pad in his hand...

...

"Mouse, what's this about?" Puck asked, walking over to her locker and waving the piece of paper in front of her face.

"Nice to see you too, Puck. I'm perfectly fine, thanks, how are you?" Mouse muttered sarcastically, taking the paper from him. "It's an invitation for Candy's birthday party. I thought you could read," she said, grinning at him.

"I can read it fine... Why does the entire football team have an invite?" Puck asked, folding his arms and leaning back against a locker.

"Because Candy likes them and considers them his friends," Mouse replied, taking her folders and pencil case out of her bag.

"Kent better not try to crash the party, or I'll kick his balls through his skull."

"Aw, that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me!" Mouse said, looking at him with wide eyes. Then she rolled her eyes at him and continued to home room.

"So what should I get him? He's turning fourteen, right?"

"Yes, he's turning fourteen," Mouse answered with a nod. "Are you going to say hello to me or not?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"Hi," Puck said with a grin, leaning in for a kiss.

Mouse pulled back with a grin and walked into the classroom.

"Next time, say hi to me first," she said over her shoulder, and sat between Mercedes and Quinn.

Puck shook his head and looked at the Disney invitation in his hands. Candy had written his own name, he noticed, and it was for this weekend. The weekend before Sectionals... Surely Schue would want them all to practice? he thought with a slight pang of worry. Ah, he already knew that he'd skip it to go to Candy's party, so what did he really care?

"Is it all right if I don't get Candy anything too big? I mean, I've got a doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon and they're starting to get really annoyed that I haven't paid them yet," Quinn said to Mouse.

"I don't think he expects presents anyway; he'll just be excited to have someone besides me there for his birthday," Mouse said with a brief grin.

"You mean he's never had a party before?" Mercedes asked, surprised.

"He's been home schooled up until now, and never had real friends to invite. And my mother's a cheapskate, which is why your invite also says to bring a plate of food. Don't bring the alcohol though," Mouse added when she saw her mother's hand-written note at the bottom of both Quinn and Mercedes' invites. "I'll have to tell the jocks not to bring any either..." she murmured.

"All right, everyone. Attendance!" the home room teacher called loudly.

...

"All you coming?" Candy asked the moment everyone was surrounding him at lunch. His eyes were big and wide as he waited anxiously for an answer.

"We're coming," Mercedes said immediately, all the Glee members nodding when he looked at them.

"We'll be there," Terrence said, grinning at Candy. "You sure about the no alcohol part?" he added quietly on the side to Mouse.

She glared at him. "Positively sure. You bring alcohol and I'll kick your arse so hard you'll be in the next decade, got it?" Mouse said sternly, looking to each of them.

"Got it," Terrence said quickly.

"If there's no booze, what are we going to do?" one of the footballers moaned, loud enough for Candy to hear.

"Games! And singing! And movies!" Candy answered quickly, his head bopping to the beat he was playing on the bench beneath him.

"Doesn't sound like much fun," a brunette jock muttered quietly. "I mean, that sounds like heaps of fun, Candy," he rectified when Mouse glared at him.

"Sweet is happy!" Candy said, grinning brightly.

...

"Does the party really need to be this weekend, Mouse?" Schue asked quietly as Candy was preoccupied with the band's instruments.

"I think you should just be grateful you got an invite, Mr. Schuester. And yes, it has to be this weekend. He wouldn't understand if it was on any day other than his birthday," Mouse replied. "It's on Sunday, and if you really want, we can practice singing then."

Will just nodded and sighed heavily, running a hand over his face. He hadn't slept at the house last night, unable to stay in the same house as Terri, and in twenty minutes, he had a meeting with Figgins and Sue about some mattresses. Afterwards he would follow Sue and make sure she was treating Becky Jackson right.

"Okay, you've all got your music sheets. Take it from the top!" he called.

...

"Ms. Sylvester?" Mouse called, knocking on the door.

"Jane, come in. You've kept me waiting," Sue replied, glaring at her.

"No, I haven't. I'm right on my time. It's not my fault you don't have a life outside of cheerleading," Mouse replied with a grin.

"I've got a new cheerleader to coach in five minutes; hurry it up Jane," Sue said.

"Saw your show last night," Mouse said as she opened her bag. "Yelling at homeless people. Nice one, Sylvester," she added with a smirk, handing a book to her.

"I never said I was nice, Jane. Get that idea out of your head this instant," Sue muttered, looking at the book in her hands.

"Mouse? What on earth are you doing here with Sylvester? What's that? Are you giving her our music sheets for Sectionals? I knew I was right to get you to leave Glee!" Will said angrily, glaring at Mouse.

"Wow, way to jump to conclusions, William!" Sue said, Mouse just staring at him in shock.

It only took her a moment to gather her wits and Mouse closed her mouth again, glaring right back at him. "I borrowed a book for Sue, because she can't borrow from the library any more than you can with Ms. Lemay in charge. Thanks for immediately making me the bad guy, Schue... And by the way, it was my decision to leave Glee, not yours," she muttered, pushing past him as she left Sue's office.

Sue just grinned at Will, clapping her hands slowly and sarcastically. "Good job, William. In one day, you've lost your wife and a Glee member, again I might add! That has to be some sort of record for you, doesn't it? Or do you need to get the clean freak fired as well?"

"Go to hell, Sue," Will muttered.

"Only if I can take you down there with me, William," she said with a small chuckle. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a cheerleader to coach," Sue said, getting up and indicating for Will to leave her office.

He left in a huff. Sue laughed to herself again, putting the book in her bag and leaving her office with a whistle and smirk.

...

"I can't believe Mr. Schue would do that," Rachel said immediately.

"I can... I just can't believe we've lost you again," Kurt said, sighing.

"You haven't lost me. I'm not going to quit this time. I'm stronger than his stupid insults," Mouse said, then sighed heavily. "I want to go shopping for Candy's birthday present and get my mind off this. Who's coming?"

"I'm coming!" Mercedes said immediately.

"Depending which store we go to, I'll be coming in more than one way," Kurt said, grinning when the others laughed.

"I'd like to go shopping with you. If you don't mind, that is," Rachel said after a moment.

"Me too," Tina added.

"I'm inviting you, aren't I?" Mouse said with a laugh. "Quinn, you coming?" she asked, looking over at her.

Quinn stopped writing her essay, and hesitated with an answer. She'd only ever gone shopping with the cheerleaders or her mother before. She wasn't sure it would be the same without them.

"We can invite Brittany and Santana too. Just give me a second to put them on the call too," Mouse said, pressing a few buttons on her phone.

"Hello?" Brittany said.

"Hey, Mouse. What's up?" Santana asked a few moments later.

"Santana, is that you?" Brittany asked in surprise.

"Hey Santana, Brittany, you want to go shopping?"

"Mouse? What's going on with my phone?" Brittany asked, her voice rising.

"Where you thinking of going shopping?" Santana asked.

"Down at the mall. We're going to get something for Candy's birthday," Kurt replied.

"Kurt's in my phone too!" Brittany almost yelled.

"Um, guys? I think we should call Brittany back later. She sounds like she's really freaking out," Tina said.

"I'll talk to her," Santana said, sighing heavily. "Well, when do you want to go shopping? I just started drying my hair."

"Tomorrow morning, 'til lunch? We can meet out the front entrance near that weird statue thing," Mouse suggested.

"Fine by me. Brittany, you need to hang up the call on your phone," Santana said to her still-screaming friend.

Brittany's screams cut off, and with another sigh, Santana left the call as well.

"All right, I'll go shopping," Quinn said.

"Good, see you all there tomorrow," Mouse said, grinning.

Hanging up, she turned to look at Quinn.

"You don't look as happy as I thought you would about going shopping. Or are you sad about something else?" Mouse asked, her head cocked to the side as she looked at her friend.

"Something else, I suppose," Quinn murmured after a moment, putting her essay aside. "I miss Finn," she admitted. "Well, not Finn himself," she corrected quickly at Mouse's surprised look. "I miss the relationship we had. And the support he was giving me... He's an idiot most of the time, but he's got a good heart, and I miss that. It sounds stupid, doesn't it?" she asked, sighing.

"Not at all, I think I know what you mean," Mouse said with a smile. "Retail therapy might do you some good."

"Maybe," Quinn said with a brief nod.

...

Mouse waited patiently to get into the nightclub. It was a school night, and she was underage, but her mum came here often enough that the bouncers all knew her name, and knew that she wouldn't do anything stupid like dance on the bar- something her mother had done often. Gerry smiled briefly and let her in when he saw her, ignoring the disappointed sighs and cries of outrage from others in front of her.

Stepping into the dimly lit club, Mouse squinted for a moment, her eyes flicking to the people around her. She headed over to the bar after a few seconds, and finally saw who she was searching for.

"I haven't seen your mum all night, and it's a school night, Jane. Shouldn't you be home in bed?" a male voice asked from behind her.

"I'm researching something for school, Al. Mum's at home drinking herself under the bed, and I have a friend looking after Candy. I'll be going home in less than ten minutes, if I get what I came here for," she replied, turning to smile at the bartender.

"And what was that? I can get DJ Jimmy to change the list if it gets you out of here quicker," Al said, folding his arms across his chest.

"Wouldn't want to trouble you," Mouse replied, turning back to watch the three girls as Al was called on to pour some drinks.

"They're underage, and shouldn't even be in here. I swear, I'm putting Gerry on the inside so he can stop letting all the young girls in just because their dresses are a size too small," Al muttered.

"That's a dress?" Mouse asked, feigning shock. "Just get Jimmy to put a different song on? This one doesn't have a beat, and I can't get out of here unless they dance," she said, sighing heavily.

"You got it. And be kind to him about the songs," Al said, indicating to the DJ to change the song from I Honestly Love You, "he just found out his wife has been screwing his neighbour, so he's feeling a bit heartbroken at the moment."

"Why would she do that? It's not like their neighbour could be younger or better looking," Mouse said, the DJ's fair curly locks and good looks often being the only reason there were so many girls at the club.

"Their neighbour is a woman."

"Ohhh... Poor Jimmy. Buy him a drink from me; put it on Mum's tab," she said. "Thanks," she added when the song changed.

Taking out her phone, she turned it to the camera, set it to video and kept it steadily trained on the three girls.

All three were students of Dakota Stanley's, singers and dancers in Vocal Adrenaline, and they were definitely not supposed to be dancing in public. Mouse had briefly seen them on the dancefloor the last time she'd had to come in to get her mother, but hadn't been able to do more than double check the girls before dragging Sarah off the bar and out of the club.

Now, she was prepared, and she'd been ready to wait. Luckily, the girls got up a few bars into the song...

"Just past eleven o'clock, roll up in the club,  
Wanna rock the spot.  
Girls out, 'bout to bubble it up,  
Guys take a look, see what you can't touch.

"Seven jeans and a Prada bag  
Six-inch heels, how ya likin' that?  
Workin' it out, he's checking it out,  
I'm knocking 'em down, round after round.

"I can feel the base line jumping,  
Watch out, there's my song!"

They danced together, their dresses moving to the side as they moved their hips. Mouse could hardly suppress her grin as they even started to include some of the moves that Dakota had been working so hard to keep private.

"Ladies, let me see your hands up in the air,  
Ladies, show 'em what you got,  
Shake it all around, yeah yeah.

"E yo, you wanna little of this,  
You wanna little of this?  
E yo, you wanna little of this,  
You wanna little, wanna little of this?

"Once you think, you think you've got it,  
You can't, can't, can't touch it."

The girls were being wolf-whistled, clapped and applauded, and they grinned broadly at the attention, continuing with their routine. Mouse zoomed in on each of their faces, then moved the camera focus further back and continued to record their performance.

"I'm not what you think I am,  
You ain't gonna get what you think you can.  
Oh no, you ain't the man,  
You might be fine, but I don't give a damn.

"'Cause I'm here with my girls tonight,  
No strings attached, no guys required.  
Wanna let my hair down, get out on the town,  
DJ turn it up nice and loud!

"I can hear the bass line jumping,  
Watch out, there's my song!

"Ladies, let me see your hands up in the air,  
Ladies, show 'em what you got,  
Shake it all around, yeah yeah.

"E yo, you wanna little of this,  
You wanna little of this?  
E yo, you wanna little of this,  
You wanna little, wanna little of this?"

The song started to be remixed, the signal to everyone dancing that the song was about to be turned into another. The girls slowed their dance, even as the beat got faster still.

"Once you think, you think you've got it,  
You can't, can't, can't touch it.

"E yo, you wanna little of this,  
You wanna little of this?  
E yo, you wanna little of this,  
You wanna little, wanna little of this?

"I can feel the base line jumping,  
Watch out, there's my song!

"Ladies, let me see your hands up in the air,  
Ladies, show 'em what you got,  
Shake it all around, yeah yeah.

"E yo, you wanna little of this,  
You wanna little of this?  
E yo, you wanna little of this,  
You wanna little, wanna little of this?

"Once you think, you think you've got it,  
You can't, can't, can't touch it."

The song faded into a different club song, and with their dance finally finished, the three girls left the dance floor, breathing heavily admist the applause that surrounded them. Mouse stopped her camera as they sat down and saved the file quickly. The girls ordered drinks, talking to each other loudly about a job well done. They had no idea that they were about to be blackmailed.

Mouse walked over to them, smiling brightly.

"Hi girls!" she said, almost having to shout over the new music.

They went still, thinking that she worked at the bar and would throw them out for being underage.

"That was a great routine!" Mouse said, acting as if she hadn't seen them freeze, and then continued when they relaxed again, "Dakota Stanley would be so interested to know that you're dancing his routine here, wouldn't he?" she asked, holding up her camera as the recently saved footage played on the small screen.

One of the girls' let out a tiny scream and practically lunged over the table to grab the phone. Her friends quickly held her back, realising the attention they were receiving.

"You have no proof that's us," another said, trying to sound calm.

Mouse was almost perversely pleased when the girl's eyes popped out at the close up of each of them.

"What do you want from us?" the third asked warily.

"I want you to go shopping tomorrow," Mouse replied, smiling as she pocketed her phone.

...

End of the twelfth chapter. Thank you for reading, I hope you liked it.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee, associated trademarks, or characters. I also do not own any songs (unless otherwise specified). I do own Mouse, Candy and Sarah.

(a/n: _thank you to everyone who reviewed, and even those who didn't. I hope you enjoy this chapter._

_Read on, oh faithful ones._)

...

_Chapter Thirteen_

...

"Where did you go off to last night?" Quinn asked as they waited in front of the shopping centre, the statue beside them.

"Just wanted to go out," Mouse replied, smiling.

"Hey girls!" Mercedes called, walking over to them.

"Hey Mercedes. Tina and Kurt not with you?" Mouse asked.

"Tina's getting dropped off by her mum, and Kurt's coming with Brittany and Santana. Have a good night?"

"_Someone_ did," Quinn said slyly, holding up Mouse's hand and showing Mercedes the club stamp on it.

"You have a fake ID?" Mercedes hissed, moving closer. "Girl, let me see!"

"I don't have a fake ID," Mouse muttered, pulling her hand out of Quinn's grasp and scrubbing at the offending mark. "Damn thing won't come off."

"Nail polish remover will make it come off easily," Rachel said, suddenly beside them. "Here, you can use this," she added, pulling out a small bottle of nail polish remover and a cotton ball.

"Thanks," Mouse said, taking them and rubbing the stamp off her hand.

"You always carry nail polish remover with you?" Mercedes asked, her eyebrow raised.

"No, but we are going shopping, so I presumed that nail polish and other types of make up application were a standard of such an outing," Rachel replied.

"Geez, Rach. Why don't you get a dictionary and translate that for everyone else here?" Santana muttered as she came over with Kurt and Brittany.

Tina wasn't too far behind them, her blue and black striped socks pulled up to her knees.

"She means that she's never gone shopping in a group before, and since we're going out with three cheerleaders and Kurt, we'll probably end up with make overs by the end of the day," Mouse said, grinning. "Don't look at me like that, you know it's true," she added when Kurt's mouth dropped open in indignation.

He closed his mouth again and 'hmphed' slightly. "I suppose you're right, and in that case, I say we go outfit shopping as a start," Kurt said, grinning.

"So where is Candy?" Tina asked as they walked into the mall.

"At home with a movie marathon, his homework, and colouring pages," Mouse replied.

"He's by himself?" Mercedes asked in surprise.

"No, I got Finn and Puck to look after him," she said, grinning slightly. "I did offer for them to come shopping, but they weren't too fond of that idea."

"Do you mind if we go to your house after we're finished shopping?" Rachel asked, looking hopeful at an opportunity to see Finn.

"Fine, but you'll have to hide the shopping bags or Candy will go through them for his presents," Mouse said. "So, who wants to go where?"

"I'd better check how my sales are going before we all start on a shopping spree and I completely forget," Kurt muttered, his eyes lingering on a nearby store's large sale sign.

"All right then. Come on. We'll go there and then make our way back," Mouse said, practically dragging Kurt away.

The others looked a little confused, bit still followed her down to _Le Parfum_.

"Aren't they from Vocal Adrenaline?" Tina whispered to Mercedes as three girls walked past.

"Yeah, they are," Mercedes muttered, turning her head to look back after them with a frown.

"They looked scared. What's so scary in a mall?" Santana asked.

"Here we are. All right, let's see this perfume of yours, Kurt. I want to buy a bottle and get it signed," Mouse said, grinning at him.

"Wait until I'm on Broadway for signatures," he said, rolling his eyes, but looking pleased anyway.

"Good morning and welcome to _La Parfum_... Oh, Mr. Hummel, I was just about to call you with a sales report," the store owner said, seeming flustered.

"You don't have it, do you?" Kurt asked, sighing.

"I won't be ten minutes!" he replied quickly, hurrying to the back of the store.

"Someone start timing him. I don't know why I let my scent sensation in here sometimes," Kurt muttered, sighing heavily. "Here it is. I said for it to be on the shelf at eye-level!" he growled. "What is this rubbish? Britney Spaz? Ugh, take it away!"

Laughing, Mouse grabbed a few of the boxes and put them on the ground. She moved Kurt's bottles to the empty shelf, and replaced the lower shelf with the other bottles. The others helped out, laughing and shushing each other when their laughter got too loud.

"Here's your sales report, Mr. Hummel," the store owner called as he left the back office.

They all stood up quickly, trying to look innocent.

"Thank you," Kurt said, reaching over and taking the report. Looking at the figures, a grin started to spread on his face. "Excellent work, Carlos. Now, what are you doing about branch sales?" he asked, looking at him.

"Not much, at the moment. I don't have any time for myself, let alone for what you require, Mr. Hummel," he replied, sounding frustrated. "Tax time is coming up, and I need every spare minute to try and sort through that mess," Carlos added, indicating back to his office.

Mouse looked at Santana and nudged her.

"What?" Santana hissed, looking at her in confusion.

"You're good at organising things. You organised the bake sale, didn't you?" Mouse added, her voice raising. "And I know you're great at maths, even if you don't let the others know."

"Do you know anything about taxes?" Carlos asked, pleading.

"Anything at all?" Kurt added, looking at her with wide eyes.

If Santana did Carlos' taxes, then Carlos would have more time to promote _Hummel_.

Mouse rubbed her fingers and thumb together when Santana looked to her briefly, indicating that she'd have a paid job and Santana grinned slightly, then turned to Carlos.

"And what if I do?" Santana said, her hands on her hips. "You think I'm just going to work for free?"

"Of ... of course not," Carlos said quickly, looking relieved. "Come with me, we'll work something out."

Santana followed Carlos to his office, a broad smile on her face.

"Coach won't be happy with that," Brittany murmured.

"Of course she will be, Santana won the job, and it's only seasonal work, which means she can still do cheerleadering practice," Mouse said, patting Brittany's arm.

"Has anyone seen Quinn?" Rachel asked, frowning.

"I don't even remember her coming into the store with us," Tina said, looking around the small shop.

Not seeing her, they all hurried to the store door to look for Quinn in case she hadn't seen where they'd gone, and was wandering outside. Mouse stayed behind at the _Hummel _display, grinning to herself as she watched their reactions.

"Oh. _My_. **God**. Isn't that Josh from Vocal Adrenaline?" Mercedes asked, her mouth dropping open.

"Yes, I believe it is," Rachel replied, sounding breathless.

"Quinn's _talking_ with him?" Tina said, her voice almost rising to a squeal.

"Where's the _Hummel_ tester?" Kurt asked suddenly. "I'll drench myself in the stuff, and he won't be able to resist."

"I don't think he swings that way, sweetie," Mouse said, grinning at him.

"They never do," Kurt said, sighing heavily.

Mercedes looked at Quinn and Josh, and then over to Mouse, a frown suddenly flitting on her face. "You set them up, didn't you? Those girls were from Vocal Adrenaline before... You made them bring him here!" Mercedes hissed, hurrying over to Mouse.

"You can't prove a thing, and I'll deny it all anyway," Mouse replied, spraying some _Hummel_ on her wrist and sniffing it. "This really is good, Kurt. How much are you selling it for?" she murmured, bending to look at the price on the proper shelf.

"I don't care if you deny it. I want you to set me up with someone," Mercedes said, grinning for a brief moment before she sighed heavily. "I don't want my heart broken again."

Mouse stood up again, a slight frown on her face. "Twenty dollars and thirty five cents. If I get two that's ... "

"Forty dollars and seventy cents, and a complimentary bag on behalf of my new assistant," Carlos said, grinning at Santana.

"I like free bags," Mouse said, chuckling as she picked up two bottles. "And stop looking so depressed, you'll bring me down..." she added to Mercedes.

Mercedes just looked at her, waiting for an answer.

Mouse sighed. "Just get me a bow 'n arrow and call me Cupid," she muttered.

"Haha. Think you can get me one that's tall, dark and handsome?" Mercedes asked, grinning as she hugged Mouse tightly.

"I should really start charging," Mouse muttered, handing money over to Carlos. "Thanks," she said, taking the small shopping bag with her purchases. "Who's ready to go bargain hunting?" she called, redirecting their attention away from Quinn and Josh.

"I definitely am!" Kurt called back, going over to Mouse. "You didn't have to buy it, you know," he murmured, looking embarrassed.

"Why not? It smells great, and I wanted one. Here, sign the box," Mouse said with a grin, bringing a pen out of her handbag and offering it to him.

Kurt signed the box, shaking his head slightly. "You're crazy, Mouse."

"I know. Come on, let's go get Quinn before she ditches us for the body," she replied, taking the pen and box back. "Ready? Good," Mouse said, taking her phone from her pocket and dialling a number.

Across the mall, Quinn's phone started ringing. Blushing slightly, she apologised to Josh and turned away to answer her phone.

"Hello?"

"Have you got a date with him yet?" Mouse asked bluntly.

"Mouse!" Quinn hissed, her face reddening further. "Yes, in two weeks when Sectionals is over and I don't have any appointments. Why?" she relented, curious.

"Because we all wanted to know... Does he know about the baby?" Mouse added, watching Quinn's face as she just nodded in reply. "Put Joshie boy on the phone for a moment?"

Quinn turned back to Josh, smiling briefly as she handed him the phone.

"Hello?" Josh said, sounding uncertain.

"Put him on speaker," Mercedes hissed, tapping Mouse's arm.

Rolling her eyes, Mouse pulled the phone away from her ear and put it on speaker, all of them crowding around her eagerly.

"Hi Josh, just a quick question... Are you going to take care of Quinn when she's screaming her lungs out and a baby's practically ripping her body in half in about six months? Or do you think she's easy because she's already pregnant, and you're looking for a quick fuck? If it's the latter, I suggest you get the hell out of the mall before I kill you!"

"Umm... Wow. That was blunt... I'm not sure what will happen in six month's time, how about we see what happens after our date?" Josh offered, a hesitant smile on his face.

Across the way, they all saw Josh cover the phone slightly and ask Quinn a question.

"She's not really going to kill me, is she?" Josh's muffled voice came through.

"I have very protective friends," Quinn replied, smiling and laughing slightly. "It's fine, Josh. I'll still see you in two weeks, right?" she asked, taking the phone from him.

"Sure... Your friend's not coming, is she?" Josh asked quietly.

"I heard that, bastard! I like him already," Mouse said when Quinn put the phone back up to her ear. "Right, we're here to go shopping, now get over here," she called, waving her hand.

"I recognise her," Josh said, frowning slightly.

"I better get over now. I'll see you next weekend. Bye Josh," Quinn said, smiling at him and going over to her friends, practically skipping.

Josh grinned and watched as her friends all crowded around Quinn, looking over to him every so often. He preened at the attention, then left with the girls from his glee club when they stopped looking.

"Did you have to do that, Mouse? What if he'd gone running and you blew my chance with him?" Quinn asked, biting her lip slightly.

"Yes, I did have to do that. And if he'd gone running, then you would have known that he was just an insensitive jerk. Guys don't understand subtlety, so it's easier to ask them things straight up... All right, who's getting what for Candy's birthday?" Mouse asked, grinning.

...

"Thank you, Doctor... Yes, I'll see you in a month's time," Quinn said as she stood to leave the doctor's office.

"And your payment?" he asked, looking at her sternly.

"The cheque is in the mail. I swear, it was sent!" she added at his look of disbelief. "Maybe there was a problem at the post office?" Quinn suggested.

"Unlikely, and you've used that excuse three times already, Miss Fabray. If I don't receive a payment for this, as well as your previous appointments, then I'm afraid I'll have to turn you away at your next appointment. I simply cannot continue to see you without payment. The debt collector's will start doubling soon," he added, glaring briefly.

"Yes, I know. Thank you," Quinn said frostily, leaving the building as fast as she could.

...

"All right, birthday boy! Time to blow out your candles," Sarah said, grinning as she brought out a large chocolate mud cake covered in brightly coloured smarties.

Candy's eyes widened and he clapped happily as the cake was set in front of him.

"Happy, happy, happy," he chanted, then went silent quickly as Sarah lit the candles, and looked at everyone expectantly.

Surprising everyone, it was Terrence who started singing first.

"_Happy birthday to you,  
Happy birthday to you,  
Happy birthday, dear Candy,  
Happy birthday to you_!"

"Whooooo!" the jocks all called loudly.

"Make a wish!"

"Blow out the candles!"

Candy laughed at their cheering, then leant over the cake to blow out the fourteen candles.

"Cake, cake, cake!" a chant started loudly.

"Presents now, then cake!" Candy said, grinning at everyone.

"Your birthday, your rules," Mouse said, ruffling his hair with a grin.

Candy went red and quickly swiped at his hair to fix it up.

"Presents!" he said again.

"All right, Candy. Which present do you want first?" Mouse asked, holding the camera up, ready to take a photo of her brother.

"That one," Candy said, pointing to the topmost present on the table.

"That's mine," Finn said, grinning broadly as he handed the present to him.

"Thank you!" Candy said, ripping at the paper immediately. "Yay! Look, Mousie, Mummy!" he said excitedly, holding up a _Lightning McQueen_ automatic racing car from _Cars_.

"That's great, Candon. Why don't you open the rest now?" Sarah asked, smiling at him.

Candy looked at the boxed car to the rest of his presents and reluctantly put the car beside him, double checking to make sure it was still there when he grabbed the next present.

"That's from me, Candy. I hope you like it," Quinn said, smiling at him.

"A baby?" Candy asked in an awed whisper, his eyes flicking to her stomach. He quickly opened the flat package, but there was no hint of disappointment when he realised it wasn't a baby but a book. "New fairy book! Thank you, Quinnie!"

"I made sure he didn't have that one," Quinn added when Mouse looked at her.

"Thanks," she said, snapping a photo of her, and then moving the camera to take one of Candy as he grinned at his new book, turning the pages carefully.

"Who wants their present opened next?" Sarah asked loudly, redirecting her son's attention.

"Presents!" Candy called, grinning.

"This one's from me," Kurt said, handing Candy a small Disney-themed paper bag. "Look inside," he added when Candy looked preoccupied with the characters on the bag.

Reaching inside, Candy's eyes widened when he pulled out Beyonce's newest CD.

"Thank you!" Candy said, turning to hug Kurt tightly.

"You're welcome. We can practice here sometime, and you have something new to listen to," Kurt said, smiling at him.

"Mousie, photo please!" Candy said, holding up his CD.

"He's awfully excited over a CD," Rachel murmured, grinning slightly.

"Of course he is, it's Beyonce," Kurt said, turning to grin at her.

Mouse laughed and pointed the camera at Candy to take photos of him with the CD.

"This one's from Brittany and me," Santana said, passing Candy their present.

"Thank you, Brittany and Santana," he said, ripping the wrapping quickly. "Monsters Inc. bag!" Candy squealed happily, hugging the bag to his chest tightly.

"Thank God for that. His other one's falling to pieces," Sarah muttered, sipping at her soft drink.

"Here you are, Candy," Artie said, rolling over with his present on his lap.

"Thank you, Artie," Candy said happily.

"Hold it up Candy, what is it?" Mouse asked, grinning as she took a photo of him again.

"J-a-z-z. Ja-zz mid... Mid-ni-g-h-t..." Candy tried to read, frowning slightly at the larger words. "Jazz midni-g-h-t blues," he finished a moment later, letting out a deep breath.

"It's a jazz CD," Artie added, pushing his glasses up slightly, looking embarrassed.

"Thank you!" Candy said, standing up to put his arms around Artie's neck and hug him tightly.

"Owwww," Artie groaned, wincing.

"Candy, you're hurting him," Mouse said quickly, and Candy moved away, looking teary.

"No, it wasn't you, Candy ... it was this. I got you something else," Artie said, his eyes watering as he handed the large tin box to Candy. "Happy birthday," he added, then rolled over to Mouse. "Can I get some ice?" he asked, his voice an octave higher.

"I'll get it for you, Artie. You keep taking photos of Candy, Mouse," Mr. Schue said, smiling briefly as he headed into the kitchen.

"Does anyone want a drink?" Sarah asked, standing up.

"No, thanks."

"What's in the tin, Candy?" Tina called when Candy fell silent after opening the package.

Candy looked up with the largest smile on his face Mouse had ever seen.

"It's just some new textas and colouring pencils," Artie said with an embarrassed cough when he became the centre of attention at Candy's lack of words.

Candy hugged Artie again, the tin clutched in his hand tightly.

"You're welcome, Candy... Why don't you open Tina's present now?" Artie suggested, looking as embarrassed as ever.

"Okay," Candy said, sitting down and putting the tin on his lap protectively.

"Here you are, Candy," Tina said, handing him her present, and feeling slightly inadequate after his response to Artie's present.

Candy opened it eagerly, holding up the book and CD pack to the sunlight so he could read the words properly.

"Speak cle-a-rl ... clear-ly book and C-D pa-c-k," Candy pronounced carefully.

"It's what I was given to help my stuttering. It's the newer edition, but I thought you might like it, and you can listen to the CD at nigh- oof!" Tina's rambling stopped suddenly as Candy hugged her just as tightly as he had Artie.

The tin fell on Tina's foot and she cried out in pain.

"Better make that two ice packs, Mr. Schue!" one of the jocks called out with a laugh.

"Where is Schue anyway?" Puck asked, looking around.

"More to the point, where's my mother?" Mouse muttered, seeing that she still hadn't returned from her trip to the kitchen. "Here, take some photos. Don't let Candy open my present until I'm back," she instructed, going back into the kitchen.

"Oh, come on. It's not like you need to be faithful to your wife," Sarah crooned. "She faked a pregnancy to get you to stay with her, you owe her nothing."

"It's not that, Mrs. Franklin. Please, I need to get the ice pack to Artie," Schue said, trying to get around her.

"Mum, we've all decided we want drinks now. Since you offered before, our guests would like you to bring them out. Mr. Schuester, we need another ice pack for Tina's foot please," Mouse announced.

Will nodded, looking both embarrassed and grateful.

"What do they want?" Sarah asked, glaring at Mouse as Schue left the kitchen with the two ice packs.

"Coke, lemonade, lemon squash, diet Coke, Fanta and three waters," Mouse rattled off the top of her head.

"Mouse!" Puck called loudly.

"Coming! Thanks, Mum," Mouse said brightly, ignoring the look her mother gave her as she left the kitchen quickly. "Everything all right?" she asked Tina and Artie, who were sitting next to each other, ice packs in their relevant places.

"We'll survive," Tina said, grinning.

"Good to know," Mouse said with a small laugh. "I'm coming, I'm coming. What's wrong?"

"Candy wanted to wait for you," Puck said, handing the camera back to her. "Apparently, I don't take good photos," he added, smirking.

"He took one of the ceiling, just to prove it," Mercedes added.

"Okay, you can have ours next, Candy kid. This is from Matt and me," Mike said, handing him the wrapped box.

"Thank you!" Candy said, ripping the paper quickly. "Looney Toons cup! Ohhhhh," he added when he looked inside. "Sweets!"

"Is he talking about himself, or does he actually mean there's sweets in there?" Kurt asked Mouse quietly.

"Not quite sure. Show us all, sweetie!" Mouse called, taking a photo of his lolly-filled mug.

"Would you like my present now, Candy?" Schue asked, smiling at him.

"For me?" Candy asked in surprise, his eyes big.

"Of course. Happy birthday," Will said, handing a thin package to him.

"Thank you, Schu-ie," Candy said, opening the present. He frowned slightly, his brows furrowed. "Co-llec-ti-on... coll-ec-tion of Disney music sh... shee-ts," he said carefully, then looked inside the book, still looking confused.

A look of comprehension dawned on his face as he saw and recognised music sheets from Glee.

"Ohh! Thank you, Schu-ie!" he said, grinning up at him.

"You're welcome. I'd hoped you would like it," Will said, sounding pleased. He blinked groggily as a camera flash blinded him.

"All right, who's next?" Mouse asked, grinning.

"This one's from all of the team, Candy kid," Terrence said, handing him a large rectangular present. "And this one's from me," he added with a wink, giving him a smaller oval present.

Candy looked between the two, torn between the decision of which one he should open first. Closing his eyes, he pointed at one present.

"Eeny, meeny, miney, tiny mousie!" he said, ending up pointing to the bigger present. Happy with his decision, Candy eagerly opened the large present. "Warmness!" he exclaimed, grinning brightly.

"What is it?" Rachel asked, frowning as she stood on her tiptoes to try and see over the jocks' shoulders unsuccessfully.

"Disney blanket and bed set. With stickers," Terrence replied.

Candy hurried to hug them all, and was swallowed up by the jocks surrounding him for a group hug.

Laughing, Mouse took photos upon photos in an attempt to get one of Candy in the middle of the mass.

"Awww... look at them being all maternal," Sarah muttered scathingly as she brought a tray of drinks out.

"What's the other one Terrence got for you, Candy?" Mouse called, ignoring her mother's comment.

Candy made his way out, and sat in his chair once more, presents surrounding him. He blinked a few times to make sure they were all real, and then satisfied, turned to the oval present Terrence had bought for him. Opening it, his mouth dropped in shock.

"Football?" he asked, staring at Terrence in surprise.

"That's right, your very own football," he said, grinning broadly at Candy's expression. "We can all play at lunch, and I even wrote your name on the bottom, see?" Terrence said, nodding for him to turn it over and look. "That way, you know it's yours and no one can take it."

Candy carefully put the football with his other presents, and hugged Terrence solemnly.

"Thank you," Candy said, his words choking.

Mouse bit her bottom lip in worry, but continued to take photos of her brother with the large jock. She would talk to Terrence about it later.

"All right, enough mushy stuff! Next present," Sarah called out, rolling her eyes.

_The sooner the presents were finished, the sooner they'd eat the cake and get the hell out of her house_... Then the real party could begin, starting with the bottle of gin she'd hidden on top of the kitchen cupboard.

"Here you are, Candy. I hope you like it," Rachel said, giving him her present.

Candy opened it, thanking her as he did so. "P-os-i-tiv-i-t-y," he mouthed the book's title. Frowning slightly, he opened the book to look inside. "Froggie!" he said gleefully, turning to look at the other animal pictures.

"It's a positivity book; I thought he'd like the pictures until he could read it properly himself," Rachel said, smiling broadly.

"That's very thoughtful, Rachel," Finn said, smiling down at her.

Rachel practically glowed at the compliment.

"All right, mine next, Candy," Mercedes said, trying to push away her pain and jealousy at seeing Finn and Rachel's adoring looks.

"Thank you, 'Cedey!" Candy said, grinning at her.

"You're welcome," she said, her unhappiness lifting with his bright smile.

"Oh, colour book!" he said happily, then stopped suddenly when he noticed another book underneath. "Empty book?" he asked.

"For you to draw in yourself," Mercedes replied, smiling.

"Sweet likes drawing!" Candy said, bouncing on his chair happily.

"You want to give yours next, Mouse?" Puck asked her.

She shook her head. "I'll go last," she replied, grinning.

"All right... Here you are, Candy kid. Happy birthday," Puck said, handing him a present.

"Thank you, Pucky!" Candy said, smiling up at him brightly, and then looking back down to open the present quickly.

A shocked gasp filled the room, and Mouse frowned slightly, wondering what on earth Puck had given him.

"Guitar!" Candy yelled happily.

"Quiet voice, Candy," Sarah called, her fingers at her temples.

"Guitar, guitar, guitar, guitar!" Candy chanted, strumming the strings in time.

"I'll give you some proper lessons later, all right?" Puck asked, grinning at him.

"Thank you!" Candy said, strumming again.

"Last, but hopefully not least, a present from me," Mouse said when Candy had quietened down. "I don't know, you've got a lot of presents, maybe you don't want this one?" she said, smiling slightly as she held out an envelope.

"Present!" Candy said, placing the guitar on the table very carefully and holding his hand out for Mouse's present.

Instead of giving it to him, Mouse hugged him tightly. "Happy birthday, Candy. I love you, sweetie," she whispered in his ear so his new friends wouldn't hear and he'd get embarrassed by her mushiness.

"Love you too, Mousie," Candy replied seriously, kissing her cheek. "Present now?"

Laughing softly, she pulled away and gave him the bright red envelope.

"Thank you," Candy said.

_He didn't even sound disappointed that it was a smaller present than others he'd already been given_, Mouse noted with slight surprise. If he had been disappointed, she knew that it would be worth that small misery when he opened the envelope and discovered what was inside.

Candy opened the envelope and pulled the card out. He grinned at the picture of Sully from Monsters Inc. on the front, and then opened the card. Two thin pieces of card fell onto his lap, and Candy frowned as he picked them up.

"The Lion King" - those three words he knew how to read very well - "on st-age. Stage..." Candy repeated, the word rolling around in his mouth and in his mind. His eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open. "Stage?" he all-but screamed, staring at his sister hopefully.

Mouse couldn't hold back her grin, and she nodded. Candy screamed loudly, a happy sound nonetheless, and wrapped his arms around her neck tightly.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Stage," he repeated, pulling away and looking slightly dazed.

"The Lion King show is really expensive, how'd you get the cash to pay for it?" Quinn asked softly.

Mouse could practically see the fees for her doctor's bills going through Quinn's mind.

"I'll tell you later," she promised, touching Quinn's arm briefly.

She nodded in appreciation, and turned back to watch Candy's still-dazed expression as he surveyed all of his presents. He was still clutching the _Lion King_ tickets in his hand tightly.

"Who wants cake?" Sarah called out. She just wanted everyone out of the house.

"Movie first!" Candy said, holding the DVD Sarah had given to him earlier that morning.

She sighed heavily. "All right, _Wall-E_ it is," she muttered, stabbing the knife into the cake.

...

"Terrence, can I talk to you for a moment?" Mouse asked quietly as people started to leave after the movie and cake.

"Yeah, sure," he replied, following her out into the foyer.

"Thank you for getting Candy the football; it looks like he really loves it," she said, smiling.

"I'd hope so," Terrence joked, grinning briefly. "You're worried that he'll get hurt?"

"Yes... Football's such a rough sport, even with all the padding. I'm just worried, and I want to protect him from being hurt by people so much bigger than him," Mouse said with a sigh.

"Seems to me that you're always protecting him. I know how to play football, all right? And I'd never hurt him, so I wouldn't have bought it for him if I didn't think he'd be okay. It'll help his co-ordination, and make him stronger too. Just because he has the football, it doesn't mean we're going to force him to play with us. Candy will be safe; you can watch if you want," Terrence offered, smiling at her.

Mouse nodded, still looking worried. Her mind was going through every possible negative thing that could happen. If she watched Candy play, then as the school's First Aid officer, she'd be able to help him quicker if anything did go wrong...

"All right. I'll let him play with you at lunch, and I'll watch to make sure he doesn't get hurt," she said, nodding.

"Thanks, I'm sure it'll mean a lot to him," Terrence said, sounding genuinely happy.

Mouse just nodded again, and went back to her brother, who was touching each of his presents lovingly, and yet also with a slight amount of fear, as if he was afraid they'd disappear the moment his fingers came into contact with them.

...

End of the thirteenth chapter. Thank you for reading, I hope you liked it.

...


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee, associated trademarks, or characters. I also do not own any songs (unless otherwise specified). I do own Mouse, Candy and Sarah.

(a/n: _thank you to everyone who reviewed, and even those who didn't. I hope you enjoy this chapter._

_Read on, oh faithful ones._)

...

_Chapter Fourteen  
_

...

"Only four more days until Sectionals, guys! We need all the practice we can get!" Schue called as they filtered into the auditorium. "Santana and Brittany have cheerleading practice, so you all need to practice extra hard today to make up for it!"

There was a miserable cough from one of them and Will immediately rushed over. "Who coughed? You're not sick, are you? Is anyone sick? Who coughed?"

More coughing came from more throats and he paled, moving back from his students.

"You're **all** sick?" he asked, horrified.

Suddenly laughter burst from them, and Mouse doubled over with her laughter when she saw Will's expression.

"Oh, geez. That was too funny!" she said, breathing heavily as her laughter subsided.

"You're not sick? ... Why?" Will asked, shocked as he stared at them.

"For jumping to conclusions when I went to see Sue, Schue. Next time, think before you speak," Mouse said, patting his shoulder and moving past him to get up to the stage. "Seems to be a common problem here. Maybe there's something in the water?" she murmured almost to herself.

Tina shook her head as she joined Mouse on the stage, Candy holding her hand. "You're mad, Mouse."

A song started in Mouse's head, and she could imagine the Glee girls singing and dancing with her. Quinn and Mercedes on either side of her, Rachel and Tina at the edge. They'd all sit on stools, simply singing the song as a ballad, as it was meant to be sung. No fancy frills or pretty props; just a song to be sung from the depths of the soul.

_I think the lady did protest too much,_  
_She wouldn't take the flower from my hand._  
_She only saw the shadow of my circumstance,_  
_Perception can describe what makes a man._

_I didn't mean to interrupt your stride,_  
_But a rose was all I had to give._  
_Sometimes beauty isn't recognised,_  
_When it contrasts with what you feel inside._

_Who's to say the darkened clouds must lead to rain?_  
_Who's to say the problems should just go away?_  
_Who's to point a finger at what's not understood?_

_Because..._

_We're all mad in our own way,_  
_Colours paint the grey away._  
_Different people, all the same,_  
_Each reveals a meaning._

_We're all mad in our own way,_  
_Fill the sky with different shades._  
_With a story on each page,_  
_Each reveals a meaning._

_Each reveals a meaning_.

"Earth calling Mouse. Still in there?" Tina asked with a frown, waving a hand in front of her face.

"Oh, yeah, hey. Still here," she said with a bright grin.

"Where'd you go?" Tina asked, still frowning.

"Pluto, of course. Where else is there to go at this time of year?" Mouse asked, her tone serious, but she couldn't hold back her grin.

"Right," Tina said, shaking her head again. "Do Plutoneans sing?"

"They do now," she replied cheerfully, taking the offered sheet music from Mr. Schue. "Thanks."

"_MC Hammer_?" Finn choked, seeing the song.

"You have got to be joking, Schue! This is as bad as _Run DMC_," Puck muttered, looking at the paper as if it's very presence disgusted him.

"No way, Schue. No **freaking** way!"

"_You can't touch this, da na na nah, na nah, na nah, can't touch this_!" Candy sang, giggling.

Mouse laughed, humming the song under her breath and clapping in time with her brother's words.

"**Stop**!" Will called, and Candy stopped in surprise, turning to him. "_Hammer time_," he added, grinning boyishly.

Suddenly, Quinn started laughing heartily, tears running down her face as her entire body shook with laughter.

Candy walked over to hug her. He stroked her hair softly until her laughter subsided and then looked up at her with a worried and confused expression. "Quinnie crying and laughing?" he asked.

"Happy tears, sweet. I'm happy," Quinn replied with a reassuring smile.

"I think it would be best if you gave us the proper music sheets now, Mr. Schuester," Rachel announced suddenly, diverting everyone's attention as Mouse got some tissues from her bag for Quinn to use.

"Mad world? But Quinn just _stopped_ crying," Mercedes said.

"I'll be fine. Can I have one of the sheets, please?" Quinn asked, standing up and walking over to get her sheets with Candy and Mouse.

"From the top!" Schue called out.

"_All around me are familiar faces,_  
_Worn out faces,_  
_Worn out faces_," Finn started to sing.

"_Bright and early for the daily races,_  
_Going nowhere,_  
_Going nowhere_," Rachel sang.

"_Their tears are filling up their glasses,_  
_No expression,_  
_No expression_," Mercedes sang.

"_Hide my head, I want to drown my sorrow,_  
_No tomorrow,_  
_No tomorrow_," Kurt continued.

"_And I find it kind of funny,_  
_I find it kind of sad,_  
_The dreams in which I'm dying,_  
_Are the best I've ever had._  
_I find it hard to tell you,_  
_I find it hard to take._  
_When people run in circles,_  
_It's a very, very,_  
_Mad world,_  
_Mad world_," they all sang together.

The mood was sombre, added by the fact that only the piano was being played in the background.

"_Children waiting for the day they feel good,_  
_Happy birthday,_  
_Happy birthday_," Candy sang softly, the atmosphere affecting him.

"_And they feel the way that every child should,_  
_Sit and listen,_  
_Sit and listen_," Mouse continued.

"_Went to school and I was very nervous,_  
_No one knew me,_  
_No one knew me_," Quinn sang.

"_Hello teacher, tell me what's my lesson?_  
_Look right through me,_  
_Look right through me,_" Tina sang.

"_And I find it kind of funny,_  
_I find it kind of sad,_  
_The dreams in which I'm dying,_  
_Are the best I've ever had._  
_I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take,_  
_When people run in circles,_  
_It's a very, very,_  
_Mad world,_  
_Mad world_," they sang together once more, the song finishing on a soft and sad note.

Quinn wasn't the only one who had a tear in her eye.

...

"So how did you get all that money for Candy's present? I need to pay at least one of my bills, or the doctor won't see me," Quinn said, frowning.

"I do babysitting every so often, and I've saved the money from that for the past few months to pay for his tickets," Mouse replied.

Quinn nodded slightly, wheels turning in her mind. "That's a good idea," she murmured, thinking of Mrs. Schuester's sister.

"Well, I'm always looking for something more than just a couple of hours every two weeks, so if you know of anything, let me know," she said, grinning.

"Only if you split the money with me for finding you the job," Quinn replied sweetly, batting her eyelashes with a laugh.

...

Mouse watched Kurt with a small frown. He had hardly spoken all day, not even to Mercedes, and they were all worrying about him. Somehow, Mouse had been given the task of making him talk.

"Good catch, Candy. Now throw it back!" Terrence called, grinning as Candy threw the football with more power this time. "Good throw!"

_She could deal with Kurt when lunch was over, or when Candy tired of throwing the football around_, Mouse decided, biting into her sandwich.

"You've gotta stop tensing like that, Mouse. He'll be fine, Terrence is a good teacher," Puck said, his arm wrapping around her waist.

"I'm sure he is, but even the best teachers can fuck up," Mouse muttered, not looking away from Candy. "Get your hand away from there, Puckerman, or I'll remove it for you," she added when his hand started to slide up the side of her body.

Puck groaned in frustration, leaning back and trying hard to not mutter under his breath.

The bell rang fifteen minutes later, and Candy pouted when he realised he had to stop playing to go back inside.

...

"All right, Hummel. Spill the beans," Mouse said, cornering him at his locker.

Not the most subtle technique, obviously, but she was sure it would work. Eventually.

"Spill the beans about what, Franklin?" Kurt replied, rolling his eyes.

"You're depressed, or at the very least, upset about something. If you don't tell me what it is, then I'll tell everyone you kissed me," Mouse said, attempting a threat-pretending-to-be-a-joke to get it out of him.

Kurt turned to her, a sour look on his face. "When you do that, can you also tell them to stop calling my Dad every other day to tell him I'm a fag?" he asked in a cheerfully fake tone.

"What? Who's doing that?" Mouse asked, her fists clenching in anger.

"I have no idea, they hang up every time I pick up the phone," Kurt said, slumping against his locker as he massaged his temples slowly. "I've tried everything I can to shield him from this - it's my decision after all, not his - but I can't think of a way to get this asshole to leave him alone. It's tearing him up, Mouse, and I don't know how to protect him from it... I can't stop being what I am, even if it hurts him," he said, sighing heavily. "Mouse?" he queried when there was no answer.

Kurt opened his eyes to see complete and utter rage in Mouse's eyes, something akin to the way she had looked when Rachel had insulted Candy.

"Don't you worry about it any more, Kurt. I'll find out who the bastard is," Mouse said suddenly when she realised Kurt was looking at her in concern.

She'd come to him in concern and then had ended up getting it from him... Weird.

"How are you going to do that?" Kurt asked, shaking his head as he walked with her to class.

"What time do they usually call? Morning or afternoon?" Mouse asked, ignoring his question.

"Afternoon, usually on the weekend, but it's been happening more and more often during the week. Usually around four," Kurt replied, his shoulders slumped.

Just before they arrived at the classroom, Mouse turned to Kurt and smiled at him. "Shoulders up, be confident. Don't let this asshole get to you, otherwise they'll win," she murmured, brushing off his shoulders as he straightened up.

"Right, let's go," he said, looping his arm through hers.

...

"Good afternoon, Mr. Hummel. How are you?" Mouse asked as she entered his auto workshop, holding Candy's hand so he wouldn't hurt himself on anything electrical or sharp.

"Hello. Good, thanks. Does Kurt know you're here?" Bert asked, rolling out from underneath a car, oil smudged on his cheek.

"No, Candy wanted to surprise him. He's learnt all the words to the CD Kurt bought for his birthday, and wanted to sing with Kurt," Mouse said, smiling.

"Okay... I'll go in and get him for you," Bert said when Mouse didn't offer to go inside herself.

Candy took Mr. Hummel's hand, and smiled at him brightly when Bert looked at him in surprise.

"Drink for sweet, please?" he asked with big eyes.

"S-sure," Bert said in surprise, but he took Candy inside anyway.

Pressing a button on her recorder, Mouse took it out of her pocket and rewound to the beginning quickly. It was almost four. She just hoped that the bastard would call today.

"Kurt, would you come upstairs please?" Bert called, just as the phone rang in the shop.

Before Bert could answer the phone inside, Mouse picked up and pressed 'play' on her recorder and put the ear piece to her ear to listen.

"Hello," Bert's voice said from the recorder.

"Your son's a faggot," a voice sneered.

The line went dead just as Bert came back out to the workshop.

"Who was it?" he asked, walking over.

"Wrong number," Mouse lied confidently, smiling at him brightly.

"Right," he said, not looking at all convinced.

"Do you mind if I stay out here while they sing? I got to hear Beyoncé all the way here, and will probably hear her on the way back too," Mouse said, grinning now.

"Go ahead. Just try not to touch anything, I've got everything where I can find it," Bert said, indicating to his messy desk.

"No problem, Mr. H," she replied, sitting on the small stool behind the desk.

A few minutes after Bert was back under a car and tinkering, the phone rang again. A thud, and then a stream of curses followed from underneath said car, and Mouse was just glad Candy wasn't able to hear.

"Hello, _Hummel's Automotive Care_, this is Jane," she answered the phone a moment later.

"Oh, hello Jane," a female voice said in surprise. "This is Karen Tooley. Is Bert there? I need my car serviced tomorrow," Karen said in a firm tone.

"Of course, Mrs. Tooley. I can book you in for a car service," Mouse said, her eyes scanning the messy desk for a diary of some sort. "One moment, please," she added, still not able to see it, putting her on hold quickly.

Quickly searching the desk properly, she saw the diary and bit back a cry of victory as she carefully pulled it out from underneath a pile of papers.

"How long is a service, Mr. Hummel?" Mouse asked quickly.

"Hour and a half with Mrs. Tooley; she likes to talk," Bert replied, his arms folded as he watched her work.

Taking the phone off hold, Mouse smiled as she started to talk to Mrs. Tooley once more.

"Hello, Mrs. Tooley? There is only one booking available tomorrow for the time it will take your car to be serviced. Is one-thirty all right?" Mouse asked, now looking for a pencil to write her in the book.

"I have my hair booked at three-thirty at Shelley's, will the car be ready by then?" Karen asked.

"It takes about fifteen minutes to get to Shelley's from here, so you should make your appointment on time, Mrs. Tooley," Mouse reassured her.

"Wonderful. Thank you. Tell Bert it's a pleasure to talk to someone with manners," Karen added, hanging up the phone.

Mouse replaced the phone on the cradle, and looked at Bert sheepishly. "I can't let a phone ring out," she said quickly.

"Good, be here at four tomorrow then," Bert said, getting back on his platform and sliding under the car again.

...

"Hi Puck, come in," Mouse said, grinning brightly as she opened the door.

Quinn had been nice enough to go to Santana's for the afternoon, and Sarah had promised to watch Candy while she was with Puck.

"Hey," Puck said, kissing her as he stepped inside.

"Want to practice for Sectionals first, or get your ass kicked on _Halo_?"

"I've been practicing, no way you're beating me this time, little mouse," Puck said with a smirk.

"Hi Pucky!" Candy called from the lounge room.

"Hey Candy kid," Puck said, looking in to see Candy watching Wall-E with a very bored-looking Sarah. "Hello, Mrs. Franklin."

"Noah, lovely to see you again," Sarah purred, looking him over with a grin.

"Let's go upstairs, shall we?" Mouse muttered, practically dragging Puck away.

Sarah's cruel laughter followed them.

...

"I'm going out now. Look after Candy for me, will you, Jane dear?" Sarah called as she left the house.

Mouse groaned in annoyance and Puck moved away with a heavy sigh.

The Halo game had been paused almost ten minutes into the game - _Puck was losing again_, Mouse noted with a grin - and they'd been making out for the past fifteen minutes instead.

"She's doing this on purpose, I know she is," Mouse muttered, heading downstairs to check if Candy was okay.

"Mousie! New movie please!" Candy said when he saw her.

"All right, which one?" Mouse asked, adjusting her shirt slightly when her brother turned away.

"This one," Candy said happily, giving her a video cassette box.

"_Chitty Chitty Bang Bang_? All right. Do you need to use the bathroom before I start it?" Mouse asked as she crouched down to take out the Wall-E DVD and put in the video instead.

Candy hummed loudly as he thought about it. "No, sweet is good."

"Good. Okay, here you go," she murmured, fast forwarding past the opening credits. "You'll sit through the middle bit, won't you?" she asked, smiling when Candy nodded. "Thank you. Be good. Enjoy the movie, sweetie," Mouse said, pressing 'play' and heading upstairs quickly.

"Everything 'kay?" Puck asked as she entered her room once more.

"Fine, sorry about the interruption," she replied with an apologetic smile. "Ready to lose again?" Mouse asked with a grin, taking her control.

...

_End of the fourteenth chapter. Thank you for reading, I hope you liked it_.

...


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee, only Mouse, Candy and Sarah.

_Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed_.

...

**Chapter Fifteen**

...

"Oh, Kent?" Mouse called, walking over to him.

The corridors were full of people, but it was obvious from his tense shoulders that he'd heard her, so Kent couldn't run off now.

"What the fuck do you want?" he said, glaring down at her.

"I was wondering if I could borrow your phone for a moment?" she asked, widening her eyes slightly. "My phone battery died this morning and I need to call my brother."

"Yeah fucking right," he muttered, pushing past her.

Mouse pocketed the phone she'd just filched from Kent and continued along the corridor.

"Morning Kurt," Mouse said with a bright smile.

"Stop looking so cheerful," Kurt said with a glare.

He'd been tossing and turning all night, barely getting two hours of sleep. His father had stayed up well into the early morning hours, and his worry for his son was in turn making Kurt worry even more for his father. It was an endless exhausting cycle.

"What's the number for your father's shop?" Mouse asked, ignoring his glare.

Kurt frowned, but rattled off the number quickly. Mouse hummed softly as she entered the dialled calls on Kent's phone.

"So who wants to know who's a homophobic prick?" she asked a minute later.

"Who's phone is that, Mouse?" Kurt asked, realising that it wasn't her usual phone.

"Kent's. He dropped it right out of his pocket and into my hands when he so rudely bumped into me in the corridor. It'll end up in lost property, don't worry," Mouse added.

"You stole his phone?" Kurt hissed.

"No, I asked to borrow it very politely. He just gave me the wrong answer," she replied absent-mindedly, working to open the phone case carefully.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing that he doesn't deserve. The less you know, the better," Mouse said, patting his head with a patronising grin.

He loathed her tone and grin, but figured she was probably right, and kept quiet.

...

"Hey, Miss. I've lost my phone, you got it?" Kent asked the receptionist.

"Model?" she asked, opening a drawer beside her.

"No, footballer."

"What's the model of your phone?" she repeated, rolling her eyes.

"A black one. Look, it's that one right there," Kent said, seeing it inside the drawer. "It'll have a picture of Megan Fox on the back," he added.

Turning the phone over, the receptionist hid a grimace at the cut-out of the naked actress. Handing it back to him, she got Kent to sign a piece of paper stating he'd received his phone and dismissed him from the office.

Kent was too pleased about getting his phone back to truly care about the receptionist, and hurried to turn his phone on. There were some sexts he was expecting from quite a few of the girls on the cheerleading team.

...

"What the fuck did you do to my phone?" Kent snarled, pushing Mouse up against the lockers.

"Get off me," she said, glaring as she shoved her shoulders against his hands.

"What. Did. You. Do. To. My. Phone?" Kent growled, his words emphasised with every shove he gave her.

The lockers were shiny, offering a reflection of what was behind Kent easily. He kept an eye out for Puck - the boy had an annoying habit of turning up when he was least wanted.

"Nothing. You didn't let me borrow your phone, remember? How could I have done anything?" Mouse asked, trying for innocence.

"Like that'd stop you, you little rat," he leered, glaring. "What the fuck did you do?"

His eyes flicked to the lockers and a slight grin appeared on his face. Mouse didn't see his smile, and was too small to see past the larger boy's body.

"I said I didn't do - " Mouse began.

Her reply was cut off as Kent kissed her.

Mouse tried to scream, but his mouth covered hers completely and the noise was lost. Shoving against him, she tried to get away from him. Finally wriggling her legs free, Mouse brought her knee up hard. Kent dropped to the floor, his mouth open in a perfect O. Feeling sick, Mouse looked away from Kent.

Puck was leaving the corridor. By his tense walk, it was obvious that he hadn't seen Mouse knee Kent.

Leaning down to Kent, Mouse glared. "Leave Kurt alone, or I'll make your life a living Hell, understood?"

Kent nodded, his eyes watering. He didn't seem overly remorseful, and Mouse didn't really believe him, but it would have to do for now.

Contemplating kicking him in the stomach, Mouse turned and left as her own stomach turned. The nausea was too much and she threw up upon reaching the girl's bathroom.

...

Quinn watched as Puck walked outside. Mouse was no where to be seen - in fact, she hadn't seen her since lunch. But at the moment, that didn't matter to Quinn. What mattered was the baby inside of her, and the father of the baby. Now that Mr. Schue and his wife weren't together anymore, there was no one to take the baby from her. There was no one to raise the baby, so she would have to do it.

She wanted the baby to have a father figure. Finn was out of the question; he wouldn't take her back, and Rachel was more than willing to do what she hadn't. That really only left Puck.

Mrs. Schue's sister had called about a babysitting job for her three little brats so she could spend time with her sister. Quinn had all but jumped at the thought of getting some money - something - to pay the doctors.

"Hey, Puck. Are you doing anything this Friday afternoon?" Quinn asked sweetly, smiling at him.

"Why?" he asked shortly, his temper bubbling under the surface.

"I have a babysitting job and I wanted to know if you'd like to help," she asked, still smiling.

Puck looked at Quinn for a moment. All he could see was Kent kissing Mouse. Neither one had turned up to class after lunch, so there was very little imagination needed to figure out what they were doing... His fists clenched and he nodded.

"Yeah, I'll help," he replied.

Quinn smiled brightly and her hand lingered on his arm as she left him in front of the school.

Puck sighed heavily, rubbing his eyes.

"Pucky?" Candy said behind him, tugging on Puck's shirt.

"Candy? What's wrong?" he asked, seeing that the younger boy was alone and tears were in his big eyes.

"Where's Mousie?" Candy asked, the tears spilling over as he began to cry.

_Fuck_.

...

"Care to explain why you were passed out in the girl's bathroom surrounded by vomit, Jane?"

Mouse was sitting across from Sue Sylvester, wishing she was anywhere else. Her hair stank of vomit, and she still felt ill.

"Not really, no," Mouse said.

"It wasn't a request."

Mouse stayed silent, trying to make herself burrow her way in to the back of her mind where she wouldn't have to relive it.

"If you don't tell me, I will be calling your mother. It will be painful for me, but I will do it, Jane. Now what the hell happened?" Sue asked for a final time.

"Call her then," Mouse said.

The room began to swim in front of her as feelings of revulsion and hate rolled in her stomach. She not only felt disgusted, but she felt used. Cheap, used, and so very dirty. She just wanted to go home, no matter if her mother had to pick her up or not.

"If you have to be sick, leave my office. I don't want you throwing up on my new leather seats," Sue said sternly, moving to open the door.

"Can I go to class now?" Mouse asked, sighing.

"Not until you tell me what happened. Did William say something again?"

"No. It wasn't anything he did. It ... It was Kent," Mouse muttered, seeing that she wasn't going to get out of this.

"Kent? The jock?"

Mouse nodded. "He'd shoved me against the lockers and was accusing me of wrecking his phone. Then he kissed me and wouldn't get off. His hands gripped me and I couldn't get out. I couldn't scream. I couldn't move. He wouldn't get off of me. He just kept covering my mouth with his and I couldn't get him to stop."

Mouse went silent, her body rocking back and forth as she tried to get the sick feeling to go away.

Sue closed her door and walked over. "Jane, did he rape you?"

Mouse shook her head briefly. "No, I kneed him in the groin before he could go any further. Puck was walking away, he thought I was kissing Kent..."

Mouse pushed past Sue and threw up outside of her office.

"Please, can I go home now?" Mouse asked, her body shaking as she stayed on the floor.

Sue didn't reply. She helped Mouse stand up gently and led her out to the teacher's carpark to where her car was.

The drive took less than ten minutes, but it took more than that to get Mouse inside the house. She'd left her bag in her locker at school, but the spare house key was hidden under the pot plant on the window sill. Sarah was no where to be seen, but both Mouse and Sue thought that a blessing.

"Get yourself washed up and sleep it off. I'll cover for you with the school, just don't ring them and tell them I brought you home without permission. This is a one time deal, okay?"

Mouse nodded. "Thank you."

"Don't say that like you mean it, Jane. I'm not doing this for you," Sue said, obviously lying. "Get some rest."

Locking the door after Sue had left, Mouse decided to do just that. Going into her mother's bathroom, Mouse took a sleeping pill and swallowed it, grimacing at the powdery taste. She went to bed and fell asleep in seconds.

...

Mouse woke up a few hours later to the doorbell ringing loudly and constantly. Her head thumping, she staggered downstairs to open the door.

Puck and Candy were standing there, anger on Puck's face and tears on Candy's.

"What's wrong?" Mouse asked, her befuddled mind not comprehending why they were standing there.

"Candy, can you go to the kitchen and get me some water, please?" Puck asked. His voice and smiled were strained.

Candy rubbed his eyes and let go of Puck's hand to go to the kitchen.

"Whatever the fuck is going on between you and Kent is your own business, but when you leave Candy at school to be with that asshole, you're crossing the line," Puck said.

"What? I didn't. He ... " Mouse's words were coming out slowly, the sleeping pill still working through her system. She couldn't form words or sentences properly. Her lips were cracked and dry, making talking that much harder. "He forced... He kissed me. Not me and him."

There were four Puck's standing at her door now and she tried to reach for one of them to make him understand. It didn't work and she held the door frame to steady herself. Candy came back with the glass of water for Puck, holding it very carefully in his hands.

"Thanks, Candy. Feeling better now?" Puck asked, glaring at Mouse briefly.

Candy nodded, taking Mouse's hand now.

"Tired?" Mouse asked him, and Candy nodded. "Same. Sleep's good. Night," she said to Puck, taking the empty glass.

She tried not to sway on her feet and held Candy's hand a bit tighter. He yawned and tugged on her hand. Placing the glass on the stand by the door, Mouse shut the door when all of the Puck's stayed silent, and went back upstairs to sleep.

...

(_End of the fifteenth chapter. Thank you for reading._)


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee. I only own Mouse, Candy and Sarah.

_Thank you to everyone for reading, I hope you enjoy the chapter_!

...

**Chapter Sixteen**

...

"What are you doing?" Quinn hissed at Puck.

They were tied to two chairs, while three loud and noisy kids ran around them in circles, pretending to be Indians.

"Texting," Puck replied briefly, trying to glare back at her.

"Well, could you put the phone down already? We've got to try and get out of this," Quinn muttered, struggling against the ropes.

Puck ignored her, looking down at the small screen. The message was for Santana. He hadn't sexted her in what felt like years. Guilt tugged at him for a moment, then the image of Mouse and Kent kissing went through his mind. Pushing away the guilt, he sent the text.

"All right, let's get out of this thing," Puck muttered, slipping his phone in his pocket.

...

"So he thinks that you actually kissed Kent?" Santana asked Mouse, a disgusted look on her face.

"Apparently," Mouse replied, sighing.

"Well, Puck can be an idiot sometimes. Just give him some time, he'll get over it," Santana said.

She looked around the room with a frown, realising she'd left her bag downstairs.

"Dammit, I brought something for you. It's downstairs, I'll be right back," Santana said, leaving the room quickly.

Mouse went across the hall to check that Candy was okay. He was sleeping soundly, so she left him to go back to her room. She jumped slightly when a phone began ringing, music filtering from the small speaker louder than she thought would have been possible.

"Santana, your phone," she called, trying to get her attention and not wake Candy at the same time.

Santana didn't hear her, and Mouse quickly pressed a button on the phone to stop the music. The screen flashed brightly before returning to its' sleep mode, the music gone.

1 MSG FROM PUCK.

"Here you go. It's a present from the store. A thank you for getting me a job," Santana said, grinning as she passed her the folded material. "What's wrong?"

"Your phone went off. I got it so Candy wouldn't wake up. It's a message from Puck," Mouse said, handing her the phone. "Thank you for the present," she said, grinning as she held up the bright blue calico bag. It had the word 'Hummel' written on the side, with _Le Parfum_ written underneath.

"It's not much, but it's amazing how fast we go through those bags with Kurt's sales," Santana said, looking at her phone.

The screen was still locked and the message unread, so she didn't worry about what Mouse might have seen, but when she read the text, Santana got angry. Swearing, she went to turn her phone off.

"What is it?" Mouse asked, frowning slightly. "Does... Does he want to get back together with you?" she asked, hating how her voice sounded so weak.

"No, and I wouldn't even if he did. I'm quite happy with Mike. _His_ credit rating is better than anything Puck could offer."

"Then what's wrong?"

Santana looked at Mouse for a moment, wondering if she should tell her or not. Sighing heavily, she opened the message. "He sent me a sext. It's the first time in months, _I swear_," she added, handing her the phone.

Mouse read the message, her frown disappearing as her cheeks went red. "_Oh_..."

She felt her chest tighten, it got harder to breathe, and her eyes started to sting as unshed tears gathered. _No_, she told herself, _she would not cry over this. She wouldn't_. Taking a deep breath, she ignored her aching chest - no matter how much it hurt - Mouse straightened herself slightly and looked at the text again.

"Are you all right? He's not thinking straight; he's just being a desperate bastard," Santana said, though she had no idea why she was defending Puck.

"That's not physically possible," Mouse said, her head cocked to the side.

Whatever response Santana had expected, **that** was not it. "Umm, _what_?"

"It's not physically possible. If he was like that, and she was in that position... Well, I'd be calling the ambulance," Mouse said, handing the phone to her with a grin.

Grinning back briefly, Santana took the phone and read the message properly. A small laugh escaped her. She wrote a reply, one that was far too ridiculous for it to be anything serious, and handed the phone back to Mouse.

"Really? That doesn't sound sexy at all; it sounds painful," she said, laughing as she went to give the phone back.

Santana shook her head. "You decide whether to send it or not," she said.

Mouse read the text, laughing again. She pressed the 'send' button, wondering if Puck would realise that it was only a joke.

Less than five minutes later, both Santana and Mouse were surprised to hear Santana's message alert. Santana put her phone on vibrate and checked the message, muttering under her breath when she read it properly.

"Stupid frigging idiot. He's out with Quinn and he's sexting me, what a little bast..."

"_Santana_," Mouse said warningly.

"Well, he still is one," she muttered.

"What's this one say?" Mouse asked, wishing that her chest would stop hurting so much.

Santana didn't look happy at the question, but she still passed the phone to her.

"I think he needs to do biology again," Mouse said, her eyebrow raised in confusion at what she was reading.

A grin tugged at Santana's lips. "He's not the sharpest tool in the shed. But he's still a tool," she added, smirking.

Mouse rolled her eyes and wrote a response, as ridiculous as the last, sending it after looking to Santana. They were using her phone credit, after all.

It continued for half an hour, until Santana turned her phone off and refused to send any more.

...

On Monday morning, Santana confronted Quinn about Puck and told her what he'd been doing while she'd been babysitting. Quinn didn't believe her at first, but soon she found herself at Puck's locker. Seeing his phone on the shelf, she grabbed it and looked at the messages, ignoring his protests. Glaring at Puck, she threw the phone at him and stalked off. _She thought he'd changed, damn him_!

Mouse avoided Quinn and Puck, keeping her head down during class and not talking unless it was necessary.

As soon as the lunch bell rang, Mouse went to the library rather than the football field like usual. Ignoring Ms. Lemay, she went to the back of the library to the most unused section and sat on the floor. She put her headphones on and turned the music up so she wouldn't have to think.

...

"Hey, you seen Mouse? Candy's worried sick about her," Terrence asked Puck, frowning.

"She's probably off with Kent," Puck muttered.

"_Kent_? What the fuck are you on about, man?" Terrence asked, his frown deepening.

"They were kissing each other on Friday and I didn't see either of them after lunch, did you?" Puck asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, actually, I did. Coach Tanaka had to take Kent to the hospital," Terrence said, as if the news was known to the entire school. "Testicle retrieval operation, it was all over the 'net Saturday. You really didn't hear about it?" he asked, surprised.

Puck was silent.

"Well, when you see Mouse, get her to come meet us at the football field. Candy doesn't want to play ball without her there," Terrence said, clapping Puck's shoulder as he left.

The image of Kent and Mouse kissing went through his head again - as it had done all weekend - and Puck realised that what he'd assumed was completely wrong. _**Fuck**_.

Slamming his locker shut, Puck ran to the cafeteria quickly. He didn't see Mouse anywhere, but he saw the others from Glee and went over quickly. Santana and Quinn were sitting as far away from each other as possible.

"Where's Mouse? Have you seen her?" Puck asked, looking at them.

Kurt crossed his arms over his chest and turned away. Quinn looked down at her lunch and refused to answer. Only Santana met his gaze, and she looked angry.

"We haven't seen her, and even if we had, we wouldn't tell _you_," Santana said, glaring at him. "What the fuck were you thinking, accusing Mouse of kissing Kent?"

He was surprised at the hostility from Santana - she'd sent him all of those sexts on Friday. He said as much, ignoring Mike's look.

"As if I'd ever get back with you," Santana said, her hand in Mike's. "It was Mouse who sent all of those texts, not me. I was with her, you dumbass."

Puck glared at her for a moment, then looked around the cafeteria once more before leaving.

Mercedes sighed heavily and left after him. Kurt was surprised, but followed her in a second. The rest of the Glee club followed.

...

"Where is she?" Puck asked, but it was more of a rhetorical question than anything.

He'd searched the auditorium, all of the school grounds, the nurse's office, everywhere he could think of. Candy was still with the footballers, the large jocks trying to keep his mind off his sister.

"Have you looked in the library yet?" Tina asked, frowning.

"What?" Puck said, rounding on her.

"T-the l-library," Tina repeated, stumbling on her words.

"You really think she'd go in there after what Ms. Lemay did?" he asked sarcastically.

"Can you think of anywhere else?" Artie retorted, glaring. He took Tina's hand, making her blush.

"Fine," Puck muttered a moment later, heading to the library.

...

Mouse tried to concentrate on the maths problem in front of her. A frown was on her face, the pencil in her hand tapping on the paper in time with the music she was listening to. Writing the solution, she skipped to the next song with her free hand.

Hearing footsteps, she frowned again and looked at her music player. The song was heavy rock, no footsteps should be in it. Pausing the song, she pulled her headphones off to listen more carefully.

"... he's worried about her," Mercedes muttered to Kurt.

"Why do you sound so surprised?" he asked, shaking his head.

"I've never seen Puckerman get worried about anyone other than himself. It's weird," she replied, shrugging.

"I just wish her phone was on so we could call her and get this over with. The jocks are all out there getting sweaty and I'm not there to watch," Kurt said with a grin and dramatic sigh.

"But Finn's in here, isn't he?" Mercedes teased, grinning back at him.

"That's not the point."

At the mention of the footballers, Mouse hurried to pack her things. In her determination to avoid Puck and Quinn, she'd completely forgotten that Candy was outside playing football. She moved through the stacks quietly, not drawing the attention of Mercedes or Kurt as she hurried to leave the library. The rest of the Glee club were spread out through the library looking for her and not one saw her leave.

...

"Mousie!"

Terrence looked up at Candy's joyful shout, grabbing the football off the ground as he headed over to the siblings.

"Did Puck find you then?" Terrence asked as Candy hugged Mouse tightly.

"No, and I'd prefer to keep it that way," she replied, her tone softening as she looked at her brother. "Sorry for being late, sweetie. Have you been having fun?" Mouse asked, smiling.

"Yeah, we've been teaching him how to throw the ball," one of the jocks replied, grinning as he ruffled Candy's hair.

Candy grinned and took the ball from Terrence, running across the grass with a laugh.

"Heard what Kent did to you; are you okay?" Terrence asked as he sat next to Mouse.

"I've been better," she replied, shrugging briefly.

"I thought you were avoiding us because of what he did," he said a moment later.

"You weren't the ones who did it," Mouse replied, shaking her head.

They sat in silence for a while, watching as Candy threw the ball to his friends, laughing when one grabbed him and picked him up. Mouse tensed when that happened, thinking he'd be hurt.

"They won't hurt him," Terrence said, putting a hand on her shoulder briefly.

Mouse stilled and nodded. She moved away slightly, remembering Kent's hands on her shoulders.

"Sorry," he said quickly, sliding down the bench to give her some space.

It took Mouse a few minutes to recollect herself. When she did, she turned to Terrence and smiled briefly. "I'm sorry for putting your wide receiver in hospital. Will the team be all right without him?" she asked.

"Probably not. Don't worry about it though, it's not like he did much to start off with," Terrence said with a laugh.

"Terrie, play with sweet," Candy called, laughing as he ran to them. The football was clenched in his hands tightly.

"Coming, Candy," he replied, smiling.

A footballer ran towards them, Candy squealed in delight and ran off quickly. Terrence stood to leave.

"Terrence?" Mouse asked quietly, stopping him. "Thank you."

"What for?" he asked in confusion.

"For asking me if I'm okay. It's the first time anyone's asked that in a long time."

With a kind smile, Terrence nodded and went back onto the field.

Mouse sighed and lay flat on her back on the bench, slipping her headphones on once more.

...

"There's a football game on tonight. Are you going?" Sarah asked as Mouse and Candy came in the house.

"Yes!" Candy called loudly, pulling his bag off and running into the lounge room.

"Indoor voice, Candon," Sarah prompted, then looked to Mouse. "Well, are you coming out?"

Mouse glowered at her mother - Sarah knew that she'd put Kent in the hospital, and by making her go tonight, the entire town would have someone to blame for the team's usual defeat. By asking when Candy when around meant that she would have no choice but to accept. If Sarah went there to scope out her man of the hour, as was often the case, Candy would have no way of getting home. On the other hand, going to the game meant seeing Puck, who she'd been trying to avoid all day. _Damn her mother for doing this_.

"Fine, I'll come."

"Excellent. Why don't you help your brother with your homework while I go get ready?" Sarah purred, leaving the room without another word.

...

Mouse sat on the bench, hating that they were sitting at the front. They'd arrived early because both Sarah and Candy wanted to, yet for entirely different reasons; one to see the available men, and the other to see his friends. Arriving as early as they had, they got seats right at the front.

Candy called out to the footballers, waving. Taking out a book, Mouse tried to hide in her jacket to read. It was in vain, as in moments, the band started to practice in the section next to them. The footballers waved back to Candy, ignoring their coach as they made their way over to the bleachers. Puck lingered at the back, looking at Mouse.

"Hey, Candy! This is your first game, isn't it?" one of them called, grinning broadly.

"Yes. Sweet mascot," he said proudly, a grin just as big on his face.

"Hello boys," Sarah said, looking over the rail at them. "Aren't you all divine in your uniforms? How about drinks at my place afterwards?" she asked, eyeing their tight pants.

"We're all underage, Mrs. Franklin. But we appreciate your offer," Terrence replied diplomatically.

"Of course you do," she muttered sourly, leaving the bench to go find someone willing.

"Hey, Mouse. How are you?" Terrence asked, smiling at her.

Her eyes flicked to Puck's for a moment and she went red when she saw that he was looking at her. She looked to Terrence and forced herself to smile back. "Fine, thank you. You'd better get back," she added when Tanaka yelled at them again. "Good luck."

Candy called goodbye to his friends and sat next to Mouse on the bench again. He hummed along with the band, his head bopping.

"You excited, Candy?" she asked, smiling at him.

"Yes!" he replied happily, still grinning.

More and more people started to fill the stands, and Mouse looked around for her mother. Not seeing Sarah anywhere, she didn't know whether to worry about the fact that she'd disappeared, or that she'd left them alone.

"I heard through the grapevine that you were here," Kurt said, grinning as he made his way down with his father.

"Hi Mr. Hummel," she said, getting a nod in return. "Which grapevine was that, Kurt?" Mouse asked with a frown.

"The one that had your mother wrapped around some guy from the other team's side of town," he said, his eyebrows raised.

Mouse buried her face in her hands.

"Miraculously, the afternoon phone calls have stopped. You wouldn't have anything to do with that, would you, Jane?" Bert asked while Kurt was preoccupied with Candy.

She looked at him but didn't answer.

"Not going to admit it then? All right... I just wanted to say thank you. You and Candy are welcome any time, day or night," he added, giving her a quick smile.

"Kurt rang to say you were here. You got great seats!" Mercedes said as she came over with Tina.

Strategically nudging people out of their way, Mercedes and Tina managed to sit behind them. Kurt and his dad found seats in the same manner, about two seats away.

"Is Artie here?" Mouse asked when Rachel came over with her fathers.

"He's i-in the band," Tina said, looking over to him with a grin.

"I didn't see him earlier," Mouse said, waving to him.

"He gets in later when most people are already sitting down," she replied.

Quinn arrived with Josh. Her cheeks reddened when she saw Mouse there, but she attempted to smile.

"Sit next to us," Mouse called, waving her over.

_It wasn't Quinn's fault that she had been scared and wanted someone familiar. She hadn't wanted Puck, really_.

Looking surprised, Quinn nodded and made her way over with Josh.

"Move out of the way for the pregnant lady, would you?" Josh asked one of the men.

Quinn went bright red as the man looked at her stomach. He moved, muttering something about her eating a heavy lunch.

"Smooth, Josh. Really," she muttered sarcastically.

"I got a seat for you," he replied with a grin, ignoring her sarcasm.

Quinn stifled a laugh, failing to be annoyed at him for long.

Behind them, Mouse heard Mercedes sigh heavily.

The whistle blew loudly, the game beginning with a roar from the crowd.

Candy stood, yelling loudly as he watched the game. It was obvious he didn't know much about the game, but his enthusiasm was catching. Within minutes, even Mouse was standing and yelling for the school's team.

By the time the third quarter was finished, Candy had all but yelled himself hoarse, and their team was in the lead by one point. On the sidelines, Tanaka was yelling at the team to run a different play, one that would set their defensive back.

"Come on, guys. We've got to win this," Terrence said in the huddle. "Can't let our mascot down," he said with a grin.

They all agreed loudly and with a clap and grunt, they went for their next play. Ignoring Tanaka, they set up a different play; one that they'd been practicing with Candy during their lunch break.

"What the hell are you doing?" Tanaka yelled, his face red.

They ignored him easily.

Puck looked over to Mouse, his heart constricting. He was such an idiot.

"Hey, that your girl in the stands, Puckerman?" one of the opposing team members asked, seeing who he was looking at. Number 24.

"Which one?" his mate asked, grinning. Number 3.

"You mean, which one isn't?" 24 sneered. "She's cute, isn't she Puckerman? She like you, or she go with the whole team?" he jeered.

"Oh, a bookworm... It's the quiet ones you gotta look out for, you know," 3 added when he saw Mouse reading.

"Fuck off, you asshole," Puck said.

His toes dug into the ground, waiting impatiently for the whistle. He couldn't wait to plant his fist straight in this wanker's stomach.

"Oh, looks like she gets around," 24 said, laughing.

Puck looked over to see Mouse put her arm around Candy's shoulders.

"That's her brother, you idiot," Terrence said, a warning in his voice.

"So she likes incest then," 3 said with a cruel laugh.

_What the fuck was taking so long with the fucking whistle? Blow it already_! Puck yelled silently, his fist clenched.

"So you go for the quiet sluts who do their brothers..." 24 began to say.

A fist landed in the guy's stomach and a second later, he was on the ground. Surprisingly, it wasn't Puck or even Terrence who'd done it, despite the fact that they were both standing and ready to punch him.

"Shut the fuck up," Finn said, glaring down at him.

That moment was all he had before a full on fight broke out. The other team's surprise hadn't lasted long, and they all launched themselves at them.

His feet dug into the grass further and Puck let loose, punching at whichever idiot chose to get close to him. Terrence barrelled into three of the opposition, knocking them flat on their backs.

In the stands, fights were beginning to start as well.

Puck took a second to look over to where Mouse and Candy were. Candy was crouched on the floor, back against the railing as he cried loudly. But Mouse... Mouse was standing in front of her brother, punching and kicking whoever came near.

_She could fight_? he thought in surprise. A fist connected with his shoulder and with a growl, Puck turned back to his own fight.

It took almost ten minutes for the fights to die down and the crowd to get back to their seats. The footballers that were able to went back on the field, covered in bruises and most bleeding. Finn was sitting on the sidelines, a very pissed off Tanaka beside him. Within minutes, Rachel was next to Finn.

The referee was busy trying to find the football while the two teams went into their separate huddles. Seconds later, a scream rang out. Not thinking of anyone but Mouse, Puck ran over to her.

...

Unaware of what was being said about her on the field, Mouse tried to read her book. Candy was at the rails, waiting for the game to start again.

"Hey, down in front! Bloody imbecile, you're not the only one watching the game!" a voice snarled behind them.

Candy didn't know what was said, but he could tell that it was about him, and the hostility in the stranger's voice had tears in his eyes.

Mouse turned to glare at the guy, but Mercedes and Tina had already beaten her to it, and the unsuspecting person was being yelled at by them.

"Oh, it's all right, sweetie. Don't cry," she said, putting her arm around Candy's shoulder comfortingly. "That mean man has had a silly drink."

"Like Mummy?" Candy asked with a sob.

"Yes, like mummy. He's just a mean man," she murmured, consoling him by stroking his hair gently.

"More like a fuc..." Josh began to say.

Quinn nudged him before he could finish. "Candy copies words," she hissed quietly.

He gave Mouse a guilty grin. "Sorry. Won't happen again."

"_Oh_! That must have hurt," Kurt said with a wince.

Looking out to the field, Mouse saw Finn standing over one of the opposing players.

"Uh oh," Tina said, looking across to the other side of the field.

Fights were breaking out, screams echoing. Mouse quickly got Candy to sit on the floor and hold the railing. It wouldn't take long for the fights to break out on this side too.

"Stay there and don't move, okay, sweetie?" Mouse said, scanning the crowd quickly. "Everything will be fine," she added, smiling at him.

There was a high pitched scream and Mouse turned to see Kurt standing there, his clothes covered in nachos.

"Oh, that person is **so** dead," Mercedes said. She'd helped choose the outfit and it was a damn good one! Now it was ruined.

Someone stumbled down the benches, heading straight for Mouse and Candy. She pushed them back, not knowing how inebriated they were. The person fell with a thud, drunk. Another one came towards them, this one caught up in the frenzied atmosphere. He didn't care that he was about to punch a girl, or that she went for his team.

Mouse kicked the guy in the stomach, punching him in the face. Blood spurted from his nose, and he dropped with a cry. His friends came to his defence, not knowing that she'd defended herself from him in the first place.

Her years of doing self defence when she was younger - not all of her mother's boyfriends were kind - meant that she had a mean right hook.

The fights died down quickly when people realised that the game still hadn't finished.

Turning to get Candy, Mouse let out a scream when she saw he wasn't there.

Puck was there in moments, ripping his helmet off as he arrived at the bleachers.

"Candy?" she called loudly, ignoring the people around her. "Candy?" she screamed, looking for him in the sea of faces.

"Shit... Terrence! Where's Candy?" Puck called to the centre of the field.

Not even twenty seconds later, the entire team had arrived and were looking for Candy, calling out his name. Mouse jumped over the railing to land on the grass lightly, joining the search. Puck was impressed, and immediately berated himself. _Candy was missing and he was lusting after Mouse because she could clear a rail. He had to get his head checked out_.

The crowd was murmuring their confusion, not knowing what was happening or why.

"Got him!" Terrence yelled, carrying Candy out from under the bleachers in his arms. "He's fine. Just a little shook up," he added as he set Candy on his feet carefully.

Mouse ran over. "Candy," she breathed, hugging him. "Are you okay?" she asked, moving to check him quickly.

"It's not his," Terrence said when she saw the blood on Candy's shirt.

"Thank you. Thank you all," she added, looking at all of them in turn.

Candy was shaking like a leaf, but he did seem fine otherwise. He was clutching the football in his arms.

"What is going on here? If you don't get off my field in ten seconds, I'm disqualifying the team!" the referee yelled, fed up with everything that had happened.

"Sweet got the ball," Candy said, trembling.

"Hey, back off. He's just a kid," Terrence said, moving in front of Candy quickly.

"He found the football for us," Puck added, taking it from his grip gently. "Thank you, Candy kid," he said with a smile, ruffling his hair.

Candy smiled back, but still didn't look well.

"Come on, sweetie. Let's go home and get you to bed," Mouse murmured, her arm around his shoulders.

"No! Sweet is mascot! Sweet has to stay!" he said, pulling away.

"Oh," Mouse said, surprised. "All right then. Let's go to our seats."

Candy didn't look like he believed her, and Mouse tried not to feel hurt at his expression.

"I promise. If we don't get off the field, they can't finish the game. You want them to win, don't you?" she cajoled.

Terrence nodded when Candy looked to him, giving him an encouraging smile.

"Sweet will watch the game from the seats," he said, taking Mouse's hand. "Be good!" he called to the footballers over his shoulder.

"Come on, Puckerman. We've got a game to win," Terrence said with a grin, forming a huddle on the field.

Puck watched as Mouse left with Candy and with a sigh, put his helmet back on and followed his teammates.

Twelve minutes later, the McKinley High School football team won their second game of the year. In the stands, Candy yelled and clapped for them the loudest.

...

"Thank you again, Mr. Hummel. Sorry to inconvenience you," Mouse said, Candy leaning against her tiredly.

They hadn't been able to find their mother at the end of the game, and her car had gone as well. Mouse just hoped that Sarah hadn't gone to their house with whichever man she'd decided to sleep with tonight.

Bert just nodded and continued to drive. Kurt was in the front seat, still attempting to pick melted cheese and corn chips from his jacket. He gave up a few minutes later; it was completely ruined.

"See you tomorrow, Mouse. Bye Candy," Kurt called, waving as his father backed out of the driveway.

Mouse turned to the dark house, glad that Sarah wasn't inside. "Come on, Candy kid. Let's get you to bed," she murmured, guiding him up to the front door.

Ten minutes later, Candy was in bed snoring gently, hugging the game football in his arms.

...

End of the sixteenth chapter.

...


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee. I only own Mouse, Candy and Sarah.

_Thank you to everyone for reading, and especially to those who reviewed. I really appreciate it!_

...

**Chapter Seventeen**

...

Waiting in the auditorium, Mouse tried to ignore the fact that Puck was sitting across from her on the stage. She didn't want to see him, but Sectionals were this weekend and she had to practice. They were the only two inside so far, and she wanted the others to come, just to stop the silence.

Candy wouldn't be singing today; he had been too tired to do much more than say a sleepy hello to Mouse after school. She'd taken him home, telling Mr. Schue she'd meet him and the other Glee members in the auditorium. Mysteriously, Mr. Schue and the others, bar Puck, had all needed to do something urgently, leaving Mouse and Puck together.

_Not at all subtle_, she thought, shaking her head. She wasn't going to be the first one to talk though.

Another minute went by and the others still didn't arrive. Standing, she went to leave. Puck stood quickly, blocking her way off the stage. Mouse turned and jumped off the stage. He followed her, his feet hitting the ground with a thud.

"Mouse, would you just talk to me?" Puck muttered, grabbing her arm.

"I have nothing to say to you, Noah," she replied with a glare. She wrenched her arm out of his grasp and walked out to the school corridor.

"I want to apologise, _Jane_," he said, emphasising her name. "Can you at least let me do that?"

Stopping, she turned and looked at him. "It's been a whole week, Noah. I'm over it, and you're forgiven. Can I go now?"

"I haven't even apologised yet!"

Mouse waited, arms crossed over her chest.

"I'm sorry about going to the babysitting gig with Quinn," Puck said. "And for sexting Santana. Even though she sexted me back, and it wasn't entirely cheating since you were the one to reply."

"As usual, you're blaming it on everyone else but yourself! Can't you even take responsibility for your own actions, Puckerman?" she said, advancing on him angrily.

"It's not my fault. Quinn asked me to the babysitting thing, I just agreed to go," he said, his temper taking over his head.

Around the corner, the rest of the Glee members were eavesdropping intently, silent for the moment.

"And who made you sext Santana in the first place?" Mouse asked, glaring at him.

"What about you and Kent? You weren't exactly pushing him away!" he said.

He'd regret the words later, but for now he was too enraged to think about what he was saying.

Mouse turned away, her fists clenched tightly. Then she turned back to Puck, glaring again. "You always...

"Blame it on the girls, who know what to do," she sang angrily, pushing him back against the lockers.

"Blame it on the boys, who keep hitting on you," he retorted, moving towards her. "Blame it on your mother, for the things she said."

Mouse's eyes narrowed in anger. "Blame it on your father, but you know _he's dead_," she said, cutting as deep as he had.

They circled each other, anger in their eyes and words. The song that was meant to be bright and bubbly took a new turn, dragging them down into each other's anger.

The Glee members stepped out from behind the wall and took their sides; the girls with Mouse and the boys with Puck. Mr. Schuester stood back, watching as the song continued.

"Blame it on the girls, who know what to do," the girls said, pushing the boys back against the lockers.

"Blame it on the boys, who keep hitting on you," they sang in return, moving forward.

"Life could be simple, but you never fail to complicate it every single time!" Mouse sang to Puck, glaring.

"Like a baby, you're a stubborn _child_. What's the matter?  
Always looking for an axe to grind. What's the matter?" he retorted, circling her once more.

"Blame it on the girls, who know what to do," Mouse sang quietly. "Blame it on your father, but you know he's dead."

"Blame it on the boys, who keep hitting on you," he sang at the same time. "Blame it on your mother, for the things she said.

"Blame it on the girls."

"Blame it on the boys."

The song stopped, and Puck's chest was heaving as he stared down at Mouse, waiting. She didn't look up, and turning away, she walked down the corridor and out of the school grounds. She'd practice for Sectionals on her own.

...

The next day, Mouse entered the room reserved for Glee, ready to practice again. No matter if Puck was being a jerk or not. Candy was beside her, bouncing gently as he hummed.

"Good of you to join us. Sit down, we're all going to have a talk," Mr. Schuester said, indicating to the seats in front of him.

The others were sitting there already, looking as reluctant about this 'talk' as Mouse felt.

"Brittany, could you take Candy out for a while? I don't want him to hear this. I have a feeling it's going to get ugly," Mouse muttered.

"Okay. I have some make up if you want it later," she added in a loud whisper.

"She doesn't mean that she'll be ugly, Brit," Santana said, rolling her eyes.

"What?" Brittany said, confused.

"Hi Brittany!" Candy said with a grin, hugging her.

She smiled, forgetting what was happening, and left with him, holding his hand.

"What do you want to talk about, Mr. Schue?" Mouse asked with a sigh, sitting down.

"We're a team," he began, looking at each of them. "We have to sing together, and that means we have to get along. You need to work this out. _Maturely_," he added quickly. "There's too much at stake for petty fighting to get in the way of our goals."

"I call a fist fight!" Mike said, grinning.

"Don't be stupid, I can't hit a girl," Mouse replied, laughing.

It took Puck a minute to realise that she'd insulted him.

"Mouse, that's enough," Schue said with a warning look.

"If it's enough, does that mean we can start singing now? I'll be on my best behaviour, promise," she said.

Schuester looked at each of them in turn, attempting to determine their genuineness. He relented with a nod and handed out the music sheets.

"These are the three songs we're going to sing at Sectionals. I want to make sure you're ready. Can someone call Brittany and Candy?" he added, realising they were missing two members.

"Brittany!" Santana called out the door.

"I meant with a phone call, but that's fine too," he said, grinning.

Mouse looked down at the music sheets, frowning. _Don't stop believing_, was their group song, of course, and Mercedes was singing _And I am telling you I'm not going_. The third song was what put the frown on her face. She looked up at Schuester, wondering what he was playing at.

"You really want **me** to sing the lead for Black Balloon?" Mouse asked, surprised.

It was the song she'd sung for her auditions, and she was almost positive that Schue hadn't even considered the song for Sectionals before this.

"Yes," he replied with a determined nod. "We need to practice the song today to see if everyone can handle your version of it though," he added, his determination slipping to a grin.

"I am positive that we can handle anything," Rachel said quickly.

The others started to talk quickly, and Mouse had to raise her voice to get over their chatter. "I don't want to sing Black Balloon, Schue."

The noise died suddenly, and they all looked at her. She reddened slightly under their gazes.

"What are you talking about? Why don't you want to sing lead?"

"I'll sing lead, Mr. Schuester, just not for that song. It meant something different when I sang it for my audition, and I don't think I'll be able to sing it good enough to help us win Sectionals. Can I choose something else? Please?" she asked, her voice quiet.

Will looked at Puck, who was staring at Mouse as if trying to read her mind, then looked back to Jane.

"What song did you have in mind?"

"_Crazy little thing called love_ by Queen?" she suggested.

"I can rock that song," Artie said, grinning, holding up his hand for a high five.

Mouse grinned back at him and slapped his hand.

Before Schue could even reply, the band started to play the song.

"This thing called love,  
I just can't handle it.  
This thing called love,  
I must get round to it.  
I ain't ready,  
Crazy little thing called love," Mouse sang, grinning.

She looked at the others around her, hoping they were ready.

"This thing (_this thing_),  
Called love (_called love_),  
It cries (_like a baby_).  
In a cradle all night,  
It swings (_ooh_).  
It jives (_ooh_),  
Shakes all over like a jellyfish (_ooh_).  
I kinda like it,  
Crazy little thing called love."

Someone stepped up next to her, and Mouse was surprised to see Finn standing there. He gave her a wink and began to sing. "There goes my baby,  
She knows how to rock and roll.  
She drives me crazy,  
She gives me hot and cold fever,  
She leaves me in a cold, cold sweat."

"I gotta be cool, relax,  
Get hip, get on my tracks.  
Take a backseat, hitch hike,  
Take a long ride on my motorbike.  
Until I'm ready,  
Crazy little thing called love," Mouse sang.

Artie rolled forward, the chords already spilling for the guitar solo.

"Yeah," the Glee members sang.

They all stepped forward for the last part of the song.

"I gotta be cool, relax,  
Get hip, get on my tracks.  
Take a backseat, hitch hike,  
Take a long ride on my motorbike.  
Until I'm ready (_Ready Freddie_),  
Crazy little thing called love."

"This thing called love,  
I just can't handle it.  
This thing called love,  
I must get round to it (_ooh_).  
I ain't ready,  
Crazy little thing called love."

As the song died down, they all grinned at each other and looked to Schue.

"Not bad," he admitted with a nod. "Take it from the top!"

...

Sue waited impatiently for Brittany and Santana to arrive from Glee practice. They were late, and the rest of her Cheerios were already practicing. It was the third time this week the two had been late, and she couldn't risk her Cheerios losing nationals because of some ridiculously stupid singing group.

"You're late! Get to practice! NOW!" Sue yelled the moment they arrived.

Brittany's eyes widened in fear. Taking her hand, Santana led her onto the oval quickly.

Something had to be done to put an end to Glee. Attacking Will was far too easy, but it still hadn't shut the Glee club down. While she got pleasure picking on Schuester, Sue knew that she would have to do something much more drastic in order to get Glee to stop and her Cheerios concentrating on the real prize.

She would have to sabotage Glee from the inside.

When practice was finished, Sue pulled Brittany aside. Again, the blonde looked terrified, but Sue ignored her look and gave her a smile.

"Don't give me that look, Brittany. I need you to do something for me. Schuester forgot to give me the song list for Sectionals. As co-director, I need to know what you guys will be singing, don't I?" she asked in a cheerful voice that was so fake that it made Sue's head pound. She held out her clipboard.

"Oh, yeah. You probably do. Here you go, Coach," Brittany replied brightly, writing the three songs down and handing the board back. "Mouse is going to be singing the one by Queen. Isn't that great, Coach? She's so nice. And Candy's sweet," she said, smiling.

"I'm sure he is. Run along," Sue said, waving the cheerleader away.

Looking at the songs, Sue wondered at the feeling of guilt in her chest. She'd known Jane for a long time, before the young girl had come to McKinley High in fact. They'd met at the hospital Sue's sister was staying in, the young girl so fierce in her protection of her brother and anger at her mother that Sue could only watch in admiration as the eleven year old scolded Sarah for being hospitalised again.

Jane reminded Sue of herself when she was younger. Well, if she'd been so unpopular that not even teachers remembered her name, there would have been more of a similarity. But the girl had fighting spirit, and that was close enough.

Looking at the sheet once more, Sue pushed away the feelings. Her Cheerios had a national championship to win, and nothing would stop her from achieving that goal.

...

"I cannot believe how nervous I am," Rachel murmured, pacing the small room.

They were finally at Sectionals, waiting for the first group to go on stage. Out of the three competing, they'd be going last, and no one knew if that was a good or bad thing.

"Stop saying that, you're making all of us nervous," Kurt muttered, turning away before he got any more dizzy from her actions.

"Sing, sing, sing," Candy said happily, bopping his head.

"That's it, keep your spirit up. You'll all be fine," Will said, trying to sound reassuring.

Honestly, he was almost as much of a wreck as his students. His hands were sweating to the point of ridiculousness, and Will was sure he hadn't been this nervous at his own Sectionals all those years ago!

The first group - the students from the deaf school - began to sing. Suddenly, the New Directions singers all went quiet. Even Rachel stopped pacing.

"They're singing _don't stop believing_," Finn said, too stunned to realise that he was stating the obvious.

Will's nerves disappeared almost instantly, and his face hardened. "Sue," he said angrily. "She sabotaged this," he muttered. "Stay here, I've got to go deal with this," Schuester said, leaving before they had a chance to respond.

They sat in silence as they listened to the others singing. Candy seemed to catch on that something bad was happening and trembled, tears forming in his eyes.

"Don't cry, sweetie. Everything will be okay. We'll figure something out," Mouse murmured, putting her arm around his shoulders.

"You're right. We just need to think of another song to sing," Mercedes said, not liking Candy's tears any more than Mouse did.

"I vote for _Single Ladies_," Kurt said, with a grin.

"I am very sorry, but I believe we will have to think of more than just one song to sing. If Coach Sylvester has indeed sabotaged us, I doubt that she would do it with just one. The competition will know all of our songs, and will most likely be singing them," Rachel said, her pacing starting once more.

Out in the corridor, they heard Mr. Schuester yelling at the competition officials. Sticking their heads out of the door, the Glee club came to the same conclusion: they were screwed.

The official refused to listen to Will, stating that it wasn't his fault, and there was nothing that could be done. When Schue tried to protest again, the official glared at him angrily. "I have a competition to run, you are wasting my time, and I already told you that I can't do anything about your problem! If I hear another word from you, you're going to be banned from the Sectionals!"

"But, it's not fair," Will said, pleading.

"That's it! Get out of here, Schuester! I don't want to see your face in a ten-block radius! Get out! Right now!" the official yelled, pushing Will out of the back door. "And you lot, get back inside! If you don't find a teacher to represent you, you'll all be disqualified!"

As if on cue, Miss Pillsbury came around the corner. She was holding a bunch of flowers in her gloved hands. Her eyes widened when she saw the entire Glee club rushing towards her. As they all tried to explain what happened, Emma's phone rang.

"Just a moment. Just give me a moment," she said, moving away to answer her phone.

"Emma, you have to help me," Will pleaded.

He was already in his car, driving to the school.

"I just got banned from the competition, and the kids need someone to be their representative from the school. Please, Emma. I know it's your wedding day, but I really need you to do this. For the kids," he added, begging.

Emma's eyes widened at the mention of her wedding. She was sure that Ken would have already told Will that they weren't getting married. She'd chosen Will over Ken.

"I- I'm not getting married, Will," she said, ignoring the look the students were giving her. "I'm at the competition right now. I'll help you ... I mean, the kids," she amended quickly.

Will breathed a sigh of relief, even as he swerved around a car dangerously. "Thanks, Emma. I really appreciate you doing this. Good luck," he added, hanging up.

Emma looked at her phone for a moment, and then turned to the waiting group of children. "So... What songs are you singing?" she asked, placing the flowers on a seat gently.

"As of this moment, we are not singing any. The other groups all got hold of our song list and they are singing our songs!" Rachel replied, pacing.

"We need something brilliant. We need to get past this," Finn said authoritatively, standing up to his full height. "I'm sorry, Mercedes, but Rachel's the only one who can pull something out of thin air to get through the solo song," he said apologetically.

"I hate to admit it, but you're probably right," she muttered, sighing.

Rachel lit up. "Well, I _have_ been working on something since I was four years old," she agreed, smiling, yet still looking sympathetic to Mercedes. "_Don't rain on my parade_ by Barbara Streisand."

"I think we'll only be able to do two songs this quickly as well," Mouse added. "We just need a group song," she said, looking at each of them.

"I've got the perfect song," Finn said, grinning. "_You can't always get what you want_ by the Rolling Stones."

"Sounds good to me," Tina said, glancing at Artie.

"Okay, that's all sorted out. I'll go tell the official the new songs, shall I?" Emma said, slipping outside to catch her breath.

"Does Candy know both of those songs, Mouse?" Artie asked, looking at Candy, who was pulling the petals off the flowers.

"He knows the Barbara Streisand one. We'll have to sing the other one now so he can pick it up," she said.

"Right, hit it guys," Finn said with a nod to the band.

They sang the song quietly, Candy watching intently. At the second chorus, he began to hum along, and by the third, he was singing along with them. As the song finished, Mouse breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that her brother could pick up songs so easily.

"Good work, Candy-kid," Puck said, ruffling his hair.

Candy grinned at him brightly. Kurt slapped Puck's hand away, glaring at him.

"You shouldn't have messed his hair like that, I just got it perfect," he muttered, bringing a comb out to fix it again.

"Okay, the official has agreed to let me represent you. I'll be in the audience. Have fun, and well ... break a leg!" Emma said, smiling at them brightly.

"Thanks, Miss Pillsbury," they chorused.

The juvenile halfway house singers finished their songs a few minutes after Emma had left. As predicted, they'd sung both 'Crazy thing called love' and 'And I'm telling you I'm not going'.

"You've got two minutes," the official said, looking into their room.

They filed out of the room, Rachel leaving to organise her song with the people who did the lighting.

Eleven blocks over, Will was finishing a heated argument with Sue and Figgins. Sue had been fired from her position as co-director of New Directions, but Will didn't feel as triumphant as he thought he would have been. He was going to miss out on the Glee kids first competition.

His phone rang, distracting him from his thoughts. Frowning when he saw that it was Emma's number, he answered the phone quickly, thinking something was wrong.

"Everything's all right," she hurried to reassure him. "I just thought you'd like to hear New Directions' first competition," Emma said, holding her phone out.

Behind the curtains at the back of the audience, a hundred thoughts were running through Rachel's mind. _What if she wasn't good enough? She had to do this. For Glee, for her career, and for herself. She had to nail this and she knew she would. She was a star_.

"Don't tell me not to live, just sit and putter,  
Life's candy and the sun's a ball of butter.  
Don't bring around a cloud to rain on my parade!  
Don't tell me not to fly, I've simply got to," Rachel sang, going down the stairs and onto the aisle between the chairs.  
"If someone takes a spill, it's me and not you!" she sang, pointing into the crowd.  
"Who told you you're allowed to rain on my parade?"

"I'm marching my band out, I'm beating my drum," she sang, moving between the seats.  
And if I'm fanned out, you'll turn at that, sir," she continued, moving out of the seats with a small spin.  
"At least I didn't fake it, hat sir," she sang, sitting next to Emma and Jacob, tapping him on the nose with a smile.  
"I guess I didn't make it."

"But whether I'm the rose of sheer perfection," she sang, standing once more.  
"A freckle on the nose of life's complexion," she sang, moving back up the aisle. Straight ahead was the stage. The moment she'd been waiting for.  
"The cinder or the shiny apple of it's eye,  
I've got to fly once, I've got to try once, only can die once, right sir?" she sang with a smile, heading down the aisle and up onto the stage.  
"Oh, life is juicy, juicy, and you see, I've got to have my bite, sir.

"Get ready for me love, cause I'm a 'commer  
I've simply gotta march, my heart's a drummer!  
Don't bring around a cloud to rain on my parade!"

_This was it. This part, right here. She had to nail this. She was a star, and nothing would stop her_.

"I'm gonna live, and live now,  
Get what I want, I know how.  
One roll for the whole shabang,  
One throw, that bell will go clang.  
Eye on the target, and wham!  
One shot, one gun shot and BAM!  
Hey Mr. Arnstein, here I am!"

"I'll march my band out, I'll beat my drum," she sang, her arms moving up as the curtains at the back of the auditorium opened, the lighting crew turning two spotlights onto them. The rest of New Directions walked down the aisles, Finn fixing his tie, and all of them smiling broadly.  
"And if I'm fanned out, you'll turn at that, sir!  
At least I didn't fake it, hat sir,  
Guess I didn't make it.

"Get ready for me love,  
Cause I'm a 'commer.  
I've simply gotta march, my heart's a drummer,  
No- nobody don't, no nobody, is gonna rain on my parade!" Behind her, the rest of Glee got into their positions, ready and waiting.

The song ended to applause, and Mouse grinned as she looked out at all of the people. Beside her, Candy was clapping as well, smiling brightly.

"Ladies and gentlemen, New Directions!" Rachel introduced, her arm sweeping to show all of them.

The band started again, and with a quick glance to Candy, Mouse began to sing.

"You can't always get what you want,  
You can't always get what you want.  
But if you try sometimes, you just might find,  
That you get what you need," they sang as a group, Finn moving forward for his solo part.

They began their dance routine. It involved a bit of spinning and turning, but it was last minute and it was better than nothing at all.

"I saw her today at the reception,  
A glass of wine in her hand.  
I knew she was going to meet her connection.  
At her feet was a footloose man," Finn sang. "Oh, no you can't..."

"No, you can't always get what you want (_Oh no no you can't_),  
You can't always get what you want (_What you want_).  
You can't always get what you want (_You can't always get what you want_),  
But if you try sometimes, well you just might find," they sang, their hands in the air.  
"You get what you need," they sang as a group, Finn singing his own part at the end.

Walking along the stage, they moved into a group, and then split into pairs. Mouse was with Puck, and Candy had Brittany as a partner. Puck grinned at her, still singing.

"Hey," Mercedes sang, her diva sound continuing into the next part.

"And I went down to the demonstration,  
To get my fair share of abuse," Rachel sang, the girls on either side of her as the guys crouched behind her. Finn stood to sing the next part with her, the guys standing and spinning their partners to them.  
"Singing, "We're gonna vent our frustration,  
If we don't we're gonna blow a 50-amp fuse".  
Sing it to me now..."

"You can't always get what you want (_No, no you can't_),  
You can't always get what you want (_No, no_).  
You can't always get what you want (_Can't always get what you want_),  
But if you try sometimes well you just might find (_If you try sometimes_),  
You get what you need, you get what you need," they sang as a group, Artie and Mercedes singing the end parts with their own unique voices.

"Oh ye-ye-yeah," Mercedes sang, her voice carrying through the auditorium.

"You can't always get what you want (_You can't always get what you want_),  
You can't always get what you want (_Oohh_).  
You can't always get what you want (_Can't always get what you want_),  
But if you try sometimes well you just might find,  
You get what you need," they sang, clapping along with the song.

"You get what you need!" they sang, raising their hands up.

Mouse was grinning broadly as the song finished, the crowd standing and cheering loudly. She could see Miss Pillsbury in the crowd, holding up her phone as she grinned up at them. Taking Candy's hand, and Puck's on the other side of her, they all held hands and bowed as a group.

_This was the most amazing feeling in the world_, Mouse decided as she left the stage with her friends. _It didn't even matter if they won or not_.

...

"Congratulations, you were absolutely amazing!" Emma said as she came into the room, grinning broadly. "Mr. Schue has something he'd like to say," she added, putting her phone on speaker.

"You were great! I am so proud of you. All of you! I am sorry I wasn't there to see it, guys. But you were amazing!" his voice said, cracking slightly at the end.

"Thanks, Mr. Schue!" they called, all too excited and happy to say much more.

There was a knock at the door and Grace Hitchens, the director for the Jane Addams choir, opened the door. They went silent immediately, their smiles fading slowly.

"What's going on? Is something wrong?" Will's voice asked, unable to see what was happening.

"I'll ... just take this outside," Emma said, moving past Grace to speak to Will in the hallway.

"I hope you're happy. You not only went against everything you teach your students, but what you did to us was also wrong," Rachel said, glaring at the woman.

"Believe me, I know. It was wrong, and I plan on telling the committee what we did. I can't let this go on in good conscience," she said genuinely.

"I want to see you tell them," Mouse said, her arms folded across her chest.

"All right. Come with me then, if you don't believe me," Grace replied, leaving the room.

They all hurried after her immediately.

"You can't go in there. The committee is making their decision and you're not allowed inside!" the competition official said.

"They can't. I have to tell them something. It's very important!" Grace argued with the small man in front of her.

"I don't care. There are rules that state you're not allowed to go inside, so you're not going in!" he said, glaring up at her.

Behind him, the door opened. There was a giggle as Ron Silverman put his arm around the blonde woman.

"What seems to be the problem here?" he asked, his hand dropping to his side when he saw the group waiting outside.

"I have something to tell you. It may influence the competition," Grace added, nudging past the small man to stand in front of Silverman.

"Oh, I'm sorry. We've already made our decision," the third member of the committee replied, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"You heard him. We've made our decision, and the committee's judgement is final," Silverman said, leading the blonde away, the balding man trailing after them.

With a sound of disapproval, the small man pushed past Grace and hurried after the committee.

Grace turned to them, a sad look on her face. "I am sorry. I did try," she said.

"They're going to announce the winners. Come on, kids! Quickly," Emma called, stopping whatever response they were going to make.

With a nod to Grace, Mouse turned and hurried up to where Emma was waiting. Everyone followed her to the edge of the stage, waiting for the announcement.

Beside her, Puck took her hand, squeezing gently. Mouse let go of his hand. _She couldn't forgive him, not yet_. She found it harder than she expected to ignore the hurt loon on his face. With a small sigh, Mouse held Candy's hand and smiled at her brother. He was grinning broadly, bouncing on his feet anxiously.

"And the winner is... _New Directions_!"

Pouring out onto the stage, cheers and clapping and whistles surrounded them. _They'd won. They had actually won_!

Taking the trophy offered to her, Mouse grinned as she looked at the generic person holding a microphone on top of the wooden block. Their gold trophies shone in the stage lights, and the applause was deafening. When they all had their awards, they raised their hands in the air, united as a group. Mouse was positive that nothing would ever remove the smile from her face.

...

End of the seventeenth chapter. I hope you liked it. Thank you for reading!

For those interested, there is a poll up regarding Kurt's future relationship.

...


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee. I only own Mouse, Candy, and Sarah.

_Thank you to everyone for reading. I hope you enjoy the chapter_!

...

Chapter Eighteen

...

Puck looked at Mouse across the hallway. He knew that she knew he was there, but she hadn't even glanced his way since he arrived ten minutes ago. _He'd tried everything he knew to get her back, and yet she still hadn't given up on her stubbornness! He'd apologised, tried talking to her, and after winning Sectionals, he'd even held her hand for a bit_! _What else did she want_?

Closing his locker with more force than necessary, he crossed the hallway.

"So, how about you and me go out this Friday?" Puck asked, grinning the same grin that made girls across town melt.

"Okay!" the girl replied happily. In her excitement, her blonde hair and her other ... _assets_ bounced up and down.

Puck wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulders and walked down the hallway with her. _He had needs, and the girl next to him would be more than happy to fill them. He wasn't feeling guilty, not at all. His stomach was just ... exercising his abs. That was all._

Mouse tried not to stare as they walked past. Puck didn't meet her eyes, and she looked away quickly, trying to stop the pinpricks of tears.

Closing her locker quietly, Mouse looked after them.

"Hands touch, eyes meet,  
Sudden silence, sudden heat.  
Hearts leap in a giddy whirl,  
He could be that boy, but I'm not that girl."

"Don't dream too far,  
Don't lose sight of who you are,  
Don't remember that rush of joy.  
He could be that boy,  
I'm not that girl."

"Every so often we long to steal,  
To a land of what might have been.  
But that doesn't soften the ache we feel,  
When reality sets back in."

"Light smile, light limb,  
She who's winsome, she wins him.  
Gold hair with a gentle curl,  
That's the girl he chose.  
And heaven knows,  
I'm not that girl."

"Don't wish, don't start,  
Wishing only wounds that heart.  
I wasn't born for the rose and the pearl.  
There's a girl I know, he loves her so,  
I'm not that girl."

Sighing heavily, Mouse leant her forehead against her locker.

"I'm not that girl..."

"Hey Mouse, ready to go?" Kurt asked, smiling at her.

"Yep, ready," she said, forcing herself to smile back.

She followed Kurt and Mercedes down to the English classroom, wondering what their reactions would be. What her reaction would be. Mouse wondered if Puck was already kissing that girl, his arm around her, his fingers caressing her back like he had done with her. She felt sick...

"Oh, my," Kurt murmured, stopping in the doorway.

"What?" Mercedes asked, eager for gossip.

"Ummm... How about we skip English today? Or school entirely? Yeah, let's do that. Come on..." Kurt said quickly, turning around.

"Don't be stupid, I want to see..." Mercedes said, moving to look past him. "Oh. Actually, you're right. Skipping school sounds like a great idea. Come on, let's go already!" she said, a nervous laugh escaping.

"He's already kissing her, isn't he?" Mouse asked, her voice no more than a whisper.

"If there were any less room between them, I'd say they were doing a whole lot more than kissing," Kurt muttered.

Mouse took a deep breath and walked into the classroom. Kurt and Mercedes looked at each other with worried expressions and hurried after her. The girl was sitting on Puck's lap, all but sticking her tongue down his throat.

"Classy," she muttered, trying to find any sort of humour in the situation.

It didn't escape her notice that Puck's hands were clenched by his sides, rather than holding onto the girl in his lap. He didn't seem to be enjoying it, but he wasn't exactly pushing her away either...

She sat down, feeling both relieved and claustrophobic when Kurt and Mercedes sat on either side of her. Mouse didn't know if they were sitting next to her as a show of support, or to keep her from running from the classroom entirely.

"All right, class. Settle down! And get off Puckerman's lap, Miss Richton," the English teacher said sternly.

There was a slight sucking sound as the girl did as she was told. Mouse winced and tried not to gag. It sounded like an octopus' suckers letting go of prey...

Managing a wry grin, she drew a quick picture in the back of her notebook. An octopus wrapped around a man. Actually, the same picture could have been drawn about her mother...

Next to her, Kurt stifled a laugh. Unfortunately, it was loud enough to draw the teacher's attention and a shadow fell across them within seconds. Mouse didn't have time to close her book, and it was taken from her before she could protest either.

"This is not art class, Mouse. Perhaps next time write a story instead of drawing in the back of your book," the teacher said, but there was humour in his tone as he looked at the picture.

The page was ripped out of the book and Mouse took the offered book back, her cheeks red.

"Sorry, sir."

He nodded, folding the piece of torn paper and putting it in his pocket with a small grin. Turning to face the class, his expression became stern once more. "Everyone open Macbeth to Act Three, Scene Five."

...

"Before we start today, I want to congratulate you all on winning your very first competition," Schue said, cheers erupting. He indicated for them to quiet down. "Now, we all need to work on the songs Regionals. It's going to be much a tougher competition. You've all seen _Vocal Adrenaline_, and you know that they're going to be the ones to beat."

The cheerful atmosphere faded as worry and doubt started to creep in their minds.

"Sing, sing, sing!" Candy said, happily oblivious to Will's words and the others' doubts.

"All right," Will said, smiling at his infectious enthusiasm. "Let's start from the top!"

He noticed that Mouse and Puck were standing as far away from each other as possible. He'd heard about what Miss Richton and Puck had been doing in English, and he'd seen the picture Mouse had drawn. He would have been surprised if any of the staff **hadn't** seen it - it was pinned up in the staff tea room for all to see, along with Jefferson's explanation underneath. Hell, even Sue and Ms. Lemay had laughed over that picture! While Will himself had laughed at the depicted caricature, he'd wondered how it would affect his Glee club.

_Maybe he should have another talk with them_? he wondered, watching as they sung and danced his routine.

The students finished the song, watching in some confusion when Will didn't immediately say or do anything.

"Great job, all of you. Tina, Mouse, you need to work on singing louder. Come to the auditorium tomorrow morning and I'll practice that with both of you, okay?" Will said, receiving nods from both girls.

_No, he wouldn't talk to them about it. They had no idea he knew what had happened, and he wouldn't betray their trust in him by making a scene over it_.

"All right, again from the top!"

...

Mouse waited outside the locked auditorium, Candy beside her. He was on the ground, his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth as he wrote large words in his notebook, copying the words from a slightly crumpled piece of paper.

"Morning, Mouse. Hey Candy," Schue said, smiling cheerfully. "Tina's not here yet? How about we go inside and get started?"

Mouse nodded, watching as he fumbled with the keys and his coffee cup.

"Here, let me take that," Mouse said, taking his cup before he spilled it on Candy.

"Thanks," he said, grinning. "All right, why don't you get Candy settled and I'll get everything sorted?"

Nodding again, Mouse handed Schue his coffee back to him, and led Candy into the auditorium. He sat on the stage, his legs curled up underneath him as he continued with his homework.

Satisfied that he was happy, Mouse turned to see two chairs sitting on the stage. Schue was sitting at the piano, finishing his drink.

"The music sheets are on the seats. I want you to sit down and sing this. You need to work on projecting your voice more, and I know how difficult it can be to do while attempting to dance at the same time," he said with a grin.

Sitting on the seat, Mouse looked at the music score. Sara Bareilles' _Love Song_. _Was this Schue's attempt at subtlety_? Frowning, she looked over to him. Will was humming the tune to himself, his fingers pressing the corresponding keys lightly.

"Looks like Tina's going to be late... Let me know when you're ready, Mouse," he called over his shoulder.

Before she could reply, there was a crash from the entrance, startling the three on stage. Tina ran into the auditorium, her pigtails flying out behind her. Red and black socks were around her ankles, and she only had one glove on, the other was hanging out of her bag precariously.

"I'm so... sorry. Overslept," she said, doubled over as she tried to catch her breath.

"It's all right, Tina," Will said, smiling at her. "Sit down, have some water, and just breathe, okay?"

Tina nodded in response, sitting in the front row, fanning herself lightly.

"Ready?" Will asked, looking at Mouse.

She nodded in reply. With an encouraging smile, he turned back to the piano and began to play.

"Head under water, and you tell me,  
To breathe easy for a while.  
But breathing gets harder, even I know that.  
You made room for me, it's too soon to see,  
If I'm happy in your hands.  
I'm unusually hard to hold on to.  
Blank stares at blank pages,  
No easy way to say this,  
You mean well, but you make this hard on me.

"I'm not gonna write you a love song,  
'Cause you ask for it, 'cause you need one.  
You see, I'm not gonna write you a love song,  
'Cause you tell me it's make or break in this.  
If you're on your way, I'm not gonna write you to stay,  
If all you have is leaving, I'll need a better reason,  
To write you a love song today.  
Today, yeah.

"I learned the hard way,  
That they all say things you wanna hear.  
My heavy heart sinks deep down under you,  
And your twisted words, your help just hurts.  
You are not what I thought you were,  
Hello to high and dry.  
Convinced me to please you,  
Made me think that I need this too,  
I'm trying to let you hear me as I am.

"I'm not gonna write you a love song,  
'Cause you ask for it, 'cause you need one.  
You see, I'm not gonna write you a love song,  
Cause you tell me it's make or break in this.  
If you're on your way, I'm not gonna write you to stay,  
If all you have is leaving, I'll need a better reason,  
To write you a love song today.

"Promise me you'll leave the light on,  
To help me see day like my guide gone.  
Cause I believe there's a way,  
You'll love me because I say...

"I won't write you a love song,  
'Cause you ask for it, 'cause you need one.  
You see, I'm not gonna write you a love song  
'Cause you tell me it's make or break in this,  
Is that what you want in a love song?  
'Cause you ask for it, 'cause you need one?  
You see, I'm not gonna write you a love song,  
'Cause you tell me it's make or break in this.  
If you're on your way, I'm not gonna write you to stay,  
If your heart is nowhere in it, I don't want it for a minute  
Babe, I'll walk the seven seas when I believe,  
There's a reason to write you a love song today."

Tina clapped enthusiastically, grinning up at Mouse broadly.

Will gave her some tips on holding her notes longer, and with a quick thanks, Mouse left with Candy as the bell rang. Tina hurried after her, promising to practice that afternoon instead.

"Mouse?" Tina said, her voice barely more than a whisper.

"Yeah, Tina?"

"Mercedes t-told me what you're d-doing for her."

"Did she now?"

Tina nodded quickly, a small smile on her face. "I was wondering if... if you'd help me too?"

"I thought you and Artie were already going out?"

"Yeah, as friends. Or as fellow Glee members."

"Oh," Mouse said, patting her sympathetically.

"Yeah. Oh..." she trailed off, then looked up at Mouse again. "So, can you help me? Please?"

"I'm not sure what I can do, Tina," she said, frowning. "But I'll try," she added reluctantly when Tina looked heartbroken and disappointed. "Candy, that's the girl's toilet!" Mouse called, hurrying after him.

...

"Would you just tell me why we're here already?" Mercedes asked, not for the first time that day.

"Well, you wanted me to find someone for you. Where better than an all-boys school?" Mouse asked, smirking at her.

"Yeah, but these guys are all rich and probably have their own girlfriends already," she replied in a hiss as a group passed by.

"Oh God, I hope not," Kurt said, his eyes lingering on the group.

"You're here to be my moral support, Kurt, not to ogle the boy-candy," Mercedes said, grinning slightly as she nudged him in the ribs.

"Oh, but what lovely boy-candy there is," he murmured.

"How did you get Schue to agree to us skipping practice, anyway?" Mercedes asked, crossing her arms as she looked at Mouse.

"Dalton Academy has their own Glee club. I wanted to see them sing," Mouse replied, grinning.

"Sorry, I couldn't help overhearing. You're here to see the Warblers?" a boy asked, smiling at them charmingly.

Kurt couldn't help but stare at him. _He was so gorgeous_!

"Yes, we are. Do you know where the auditorium is? I was told they'd be singing today," Mouse replied.

The boy chuckled slightly. "The Warblers don't sing in the auditorium unless they have to. Come on, I'll show you where they are today," he said.

"I'm Mouse, this is Mercedes, and this is Kurt."

"Blaine. Nice to meet you all," he replied, smiling once more. "Great outfit," Blaine added to Kurt.

Kurt barely managed a nod as he felt his heart skip a beat. _Did the gorgeous boy - Blaine, what a beautiful name - look at him longer than the others_?

"Are you okay?" Mercedes whispered, looping her arm through his.

Again, he nodded. He couldn't take his eyes off Blaine, even though he was talking to Mouse.

"The whole school stops for the Warblers? That's a very ... different reaction than what we're used to," Mouse said, grinning.

"Yeah, the Warblers' are kind of rock stars," Blaine chuckled.

"Sure sounds like it," Mouse said, as even more people hurried past them, cheering.

"Take a seat, they'll start in a moment," Blaine said, smiling.

Music started playing and Blaise stood to join his fellow Warblers.

"My baby, he don't talk sweet,  
He ain't got much to say.  
But he loves me, loves me, loves me,  
I know that he loves me anyway."

Blaine grabbed the cane that was thrown to him, dancing with a grin.

"And maybe he don't dress fine,  
But I don't really mind.  
'Cause every time he pulls me near,  
I just wanna cheer."

_Blaine was not only gorgeous, but he could sing too_? Kurt couldn't help but fall head over heels in love.

"Let's hear it for the boy!  
Let's give the boy a hand.  
Let's hear it for my baby,  
You know, you got to understand."

Mouse watched the performance happily enough. They were a great group, very enthusiastic with their backflips and everything else, but they seemed to rely on Blaine's vocals more than anything.

"Oh, maybe he's no Romeo,  
But he's my lovin' one-man show.  
Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa,  
Let's hear it for the boy!"

"My baby may not be rich,  
He's watching every dime.  
But he loves me, loves me, loves me.  
We always have a real good time."

Mercedes watched the Warblers singing, her foot tapping along with them. She didn't care about finding a boyfriend at this moment. All she wanted to do was join in with the song.

"And maybe he sings off key,  
But that's all right by me.  
'Cause what he does, he does so well,  
Makes me wanna yell."

"Let's hear it for the boy!"

Mouse, Mercedes, and Kurt all clapped, the room bursting into applause and cheers.

"So this is what it's like to be popular?" Mercedes asked Mouse wryly.

"No idea, never have been myself. But with the way they're all going, I think this is the mystical _Popularity_ we've all heard so much about," she replied, grinning.

"So, what did you think?" Blaine asked, grinning at Dalton Academy's guests.

"Great performance," Mouse replied genuinely.

"Thanks. Maybe next time, we'll be able to see you sing at McKinley," he answered.

If Mouse was bothered by the fact he knew where they were from, or that he knew they'd only been there to spy, she sure as hell didn't show it. Mercedes took her cue from Mouse and just smiled.

"Sure, we can do that. I'll give you my number. Call me when you're thinking of coming up, and I'll make sure we're ready," Mouse said, grabbing a pen and piece of paper out of her bag.

"Like you did for our performance?" Blaine asked.

"I called ahead! You just didn't get the message," she replied sweetly.

Blaine just laughed and offered to show them out.

...

Later that afternoon, Mercedes pulled Mouse into the girl's bathroom.

"What's wrong, 'Cedes?"

"I thought we went to Dalton Academy for me?"

"You were one of the reasons we went there. Regionals competition was another," Mouse replied. "Why?"

"I notice I didn't come away with a boyfriend, and somehow, Kurt's gone and fallen for that Blaine guy!"

"Really? I so didn't see that happening..." Mouse mused, then grinned and looked at Mercedes.

"Mouse? What ... what if it's me? I mean, there's so many guys out there - everyone always says that there's more fish in the sea, and whatever. What if they don't want me because I'm ... well, me?" Mercedes asked. She had tears in her eyes and she hurried to wipe them away.

"Oh, 'Cedes. That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard in a long time," Mouse said, shaking her head at her. She hugged Mercedes lightly, then took her hand. "Come with me, I want to show you something."

They trailed along the hallways, seemingly invisible to the rest of the students. Mouse stood in front of a girl, her black hair covering her face, her headphones blasting, and her eyes dark from late nights online.

"Julie has a dad that might as well be dead,  
A case-a-day habit and three other kids,  
And she's a much more beautiful person than he'll ever know."

A picture of the girl with her brothers and sisters was sitting on the inside of her locker. All of them were smiling, except her.

"She hates the world, at least the one outside,  
She's a Myspace kid living in a virtual life,  
And she's a much more beautiful person than she'll ever know."

The girl's pencil case fell to the ground and she pushed her hair back to pick it up off the floor.

Suddenly, time seemed to freeze. Mercedes looked around quickly, but Mouse dropped beside the girl. A tear was trailing down her cheek.

"Close your eyes and let time tick by,  
In this life it's okay to cry sometimes,  
It can be hard to see when it's right in front of you."

She drew a smiley face on the back of the girl's hand, picking up all of her pens, pencils and textas quickly, replacing the pencil case on her locker shelf.

"You're gonna smile sometime,  
And worlds will collide.  
I know you're tired of waiting,  
But when you're through with hating,  
You'll be a much more beautiful person, and now you know,  
And now you know."

Mouse stood up, and time started again. Mercedes could only look over her shoulder for the briefest of moments before the students blocked her view.

"Danny can't help but feeling alone,  
Walking the halls with his head hung low,  
He's a much more beautiful person than he could know."

The boy they were walking beside did have his head hung, his eyes focused on the ground. He didn't look at anyone around him, even when they bumped into him.

Up ahead, Mercedes could see a group of boys with slushies in hand. She wanted to call out, but her voice was stuck.

Too late for warnings of any kind, the slushie was thrown. He saw it coming and winced, raising his arms to try and block the cold blow.

"High school kids can be so nasty,  
In a cut throat war for popularity,  
A much more beautiful person that he'll ever know."

Time froze again. The slushie stopped in mid-air, the boy's expression still twisted in fear and dread and anticipation of the cold and stickiness.

"Close your eyes and let time tick by,  
In this life it's okay to cry sometimes,  
It can be hard to see when it's right in front of you."

A tear tracked down the boy's cheek slowly. Mouse moved him out of the way carefully, then drew a smiley face on his tightly-clenched hand. She adjusted his arms to be by his side, and faced him towards the girl they'd just left.

"You're gonna smile sometime,  
And worlds will collide.  
I know you're tired of waiting,  
But when you're through with hating,  
You'll be a much more beautiful person,  
You'll be a much more beautiful person,  
And now you know."

Mouse turned to Mercedes, looking at her intently.

"You don't feel so lucky, but I see so many things in you,  
Believe me, I know just what you're going through.  
So stand up and take a bow,  
Hold your head high, don't ever let them get you down,  
It's all about you, and it's long overdue."

Moving to her, Mouse gently turned Mercedes expression into a smile.

"You're gonna smile sometime,  
And worlds will collide.  
I know you're tired of waiting,  
But when you're through with hating..."

"You're gonna smile sometime,  
And worlds will collide.  
I know you're tired of waiting,  
But when you're through with hating,  
You'll be a much more beautiful person,  
You'll be a much more beautiful person,  
You'll be a much more beautiful person, and now you know,  
And now you know."

Mouse led Mercedes back into the bathroom as she finished singing. Looking to her friend, she saw that Mercedes had tears in her eyes again, but this time she let them fall.

...

End of the eighteenth chapter.

I hope you liked it. Thank you for reading!

For those interested, I've posted the song list for each chapter in my Forum (the one for Glee, obviously).

...


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee. I do own Mouse, Candy, and Sarah.

(a/n: _thank you to those who read, and especially to those who reviewed! I appreciate you taking the time to review_.)

...

Chapter Nineteen

...

It was Friday night and BreadstiX was packed. Puck shifted slightly, trying to get comfortable on his seat. Across from him, his date was talking about some celebrity that he didn't care about. He glanced at the mirror behind her head, seeing the two main groups of people that were crowding the restaurant. The first were from McKinley High, and made up of both the glee club and footballers. Candy was somewhere in the middle of the masses of bodies, laughing happily at something. The second group was more worrying to Puck. Dalton Academy's glee club. _The garglers, or whatever they were called_...

Finn had told him that Mouse had invited them as a way to better know their competition. He'd gone on to say something about enemies and friends, but Puck tuned him out easily enough. _**Mouse** had invited a group of all-boy singers for dinner. Was she going to pick one out as a boyfriend, a way of showing Puck that she was over him? Or was she already dating one_?

At that thought, Puck's stomach twisted and his hands clenched into fists.

"You want to get out of here?" Puck began to ask his date. _Geez, he'd forgotten her freaking name_!

The waitress arrived with their food, and whatever-her-name was bounced happily at the arrival. Puck tried not to grimace. Sure, the girl had some nice breasts (okay, they were freaking huge), but the way she was bouncing around all the time was becoming annoying, rather than visually pleasing as it had earlier.

He sighed and began to eat, hoping he could concentrate on the food and forget the fact that Mouse was only two booths behind him.

Loud cheering erupted behind them, and Puck turned around angrily. He was trying to eat, damn them! He saw Mouse walking over to the jukebox, and his anger faded instantly. What the hell was she doing? And since when did the restaurant have a microphone? He turned around before they could see him looking, but he couldn't help his gaze from going to the mirror.

Mouse grabbed the microphone, and there was more cheering from her friends. Even The Warblers looked enthusiastic. She took a deep breath and hoped that Puck would understand why she was singing this song. (Finn had told her to sing after Puck had started eating; he wouldn't leave the restaurant when he had food to eat.)

"Yes I am,  
I hope you think you beat me.  
Hope I start talking crazy before you understand me,  
Are we through?  
You think that I'm beneath you,  
But you like the things that I do,  
Wrap 'em up and take 'em with you."

Candy was bopping his head to the music, and with a grin, Mouse continued.

"I'm all right,  
Hope I can sleep for one night.  
If not to cool my insides,  
Maybe to calm my backside. (Puck remembered her robe, and a view he couldn't forget.)  
Rain on me,  
I got a weakness in me.  
I think that weakness feeds me,  
I don't think you think you need me."

She looked to Puck for that line. His gaze seemed to be permanently attached to the mirror. Or his date... Mouse continued to sing.

"Sunshine, you're the best time,  
I ever, ever had,  
But I think I made you feel bad.  
A black fly on your necktie,  
Time after time."

Tina and Mercedes got up to be back up dancers, grinning at Mouse as they went past her.

"But when the sun starts sinking,  
On your beautiful soul.  
Make you cry, cry baby,  
Make you feel so cold.  
Don't you know, it's all right,  
Sometimes you just got to show how you feel.  
'Cause that's you baby,  
Hell, you're so real."

Mouse hoped that Candy wouldn't recognise and repeat the swear word.

"Run this round in your head,  
Like you don't know what's on the inside.  
You don't know me too well,  
You ain't seen my bad side. (Mouse couldn't help grinning.)  
Shame on me, shame on the things that I be.  
If you could complicate me,  
if you could get inside me.  
Sometimes, you're the best time,  
I've ever, ever known,  
A pretty girl with a wicked smile on. (Puck remembered her smile, wicked and victorious when she was beating him at Halo.)  
But I've cried for the last time,  
Something just don't feel right.

"But when the sun starts sinking,  
On your beautiful soul.  
Make you cry, cry baby,  
Make you feel so cold.  
Don't you know, it's all right,  
Sometimes you just got to show how you feel.  
'Cause that's you baby,  
Hell, you're so real."

Tine and Mercedes sang the next part, letting Mouse catch her breath.

"You always know just who you are,  
You never needed someone else,  
To realise yourself."

Puck realised that his date was saying something to him, but he didn't answer, and he couldn't look away from Mouse's reflection.

"Hell, when the sun starts sinking,  
On your beautiful soul.  
Make you cry, cry baby,  
Make you feel so cold.  
Don't you know, it's all right,  
Sometimes you just got to show how you feel.  
'Cause that's you baby,  
Hell, you're so real.  
Yeah, baby, you're so real,  
Yeah, baby, you're so real,  
So real, so real.  
Oh, god, yeah,  
Yeah, yeah, oh, yeah!"

Mouse's chest was heaving slightly as she finished singing. Cheers and applause came from all corners, even from people she didn't know. She couldn't stop grinning, her expression not even slipping when she saw that Puck wasn't looking at her or clapping with the others.

Puck finally tore his gaze away from the mirror and looked at his date. She looked pissed off, to say the least.

"Couldn't hear you. What'd you say?" he asked.

She seemed slightly appeased at his excuse, and repeated herself, "I can't believe that the restaurant's management is actually letting them sing. It's not a karaoke bar, for god's sakes! Although, the singing would probably be better there," she muttered, glaring over at the glee members briefly. "Oh great, the retard's going to sing now. Will it never end?"

Candy had dragged Terrence over to the jukebox and was picking a song.

Without seeming to realise it, Puck had crushed his drink in his grip. "_Don't call him that_," he snarled angrily, his jaw tight.

His date looked at him in surprise. "What?"

"Don't you dare call him that. Candy has a **name**."

"Like I know his stupid name," she muttered, rolling her eyes. "Geez, if you're that worked up over it, why don't I just leave?" she said, thinking that her threat would make him see sense. No guy refused her; she knew what power she had over them.

"Yeah, I think you should."

"W-what?" she spluttered in disbelief.

"_Leave_."

She made a noise of anger and disbelief, and seconds later, she poured her raspberry drink over Puck's head. She was gone in moments, and the restaurant was quiet as everyone watched.

With a growl, Puck pushed his plate away and stood up. Ice went down his shirt, freezing his back. His hand was still covered in his drink and he shook it off, muttering under his breath. Another song started, and as Candy started to sing, Puck went to the bathroom so he could clean up.

Taking his shirt off, he shook himself to get rid of the pieces of ice. Turning the tap sharply, Puck waited for the water to warm up so he could clean his sticky head, hands, and body.

There was a tentative knock at the bathroom door a few moments later and he wrenched it open, glaring.

"What?" Some of Puck's anger dissipated when he saw Mouse standing there.

Mouse forced herself not to look at his bare body. _Okay, one peek_...

"Well?" Puck asked, unable to stop the grin when he saw her staring.

"Oh... Just wanted to bring this to you," she said quickly, blushing. She held out a bottle of soda water. "It'll get the stain out."

He took the bottle from her, his fingers brushing against hers. "Thanks, Mouse."

"'Welcome," she said with a nod, turning to leave.

Puck took her hand quickly. "Stay with me."

Mouse pulled a face. "In the men's bathroom?"

"Please."

She looked at his face, his pleading eyes saying so much more than his words did. Mouse nodded and slipped inside.

...

Minutes after Candy had finished singing with Terrence (who had been very reluctant, but got a lot of applause anyway), he realised that Mouse wasn't at the table.

"Where's Mousie?" Candy asked, looking around the restaurant.

"I think she went to help Puck clean up," Tina said, and before she'd finished her sentence, Candy had gone to the bathroom.

"Should we be letting him in there?" Finn asked, frowning.

Terrence hurried after Candy quickly.

Candy opened the bathroom door to see Mouse and Puck laughing, both of them holding Puck's shirt under the hand dryer. He looked up at Terrence when he put his hand on his shoulder, and let him lead him back to the table.

"Why did that girl put her drink on Puck? Is it because Mouse didn't like her?" Candy asked, all wide eyes and a frown.

"How do you know that Mouse didn't like her?" Rachel asked, her eyebrow creased.

"She called her a blonde horse," Candy said proudly.

"A blonde horse? Oh, you mean _who_..." Blaine began to say.

Kurt hurried to cover his mouth. "Candy copies words," he explained quickly, trying not to dwell on the feel of his lips on his skin.

Blaine nodded awkwardly, raising an eyebrow when Kurt didn't move his hand.

"Oh. Sorry," he said quickly, letting him go.

Candy had been distracted by Tina and Artie's announcement to sing a duet, and had promptly left the table to help choose their song.

"Where the h-e-double hockey sticks are our burgers?" Mercedes muttered, looking away from Kurt and Blaine.

...

"Noah Puckerman, if you don't get out of bed this instant, you can babysit your sister for the whole weekend!" his mother called up the stairs loudly.

Puck, who had been having a very pleasant dream involving Mouse and minimal clothing, groaned in annoyance. "Fine!" he called back, shutting his eyes and willing himself to go to sleep again.

"What?" Apparently, his mother had been so surprised, she found it necessary to come upstairs, open his door and check that he wasn't sick.

Hearing her footsteps on the staircase, Puck hurried to manoeuvre his blankets so the after affects of his dream wasn't so obvious. Thankfully, his mother hadn't seen, or else he was sure that she would have made some comment about it being natural and healthy, and if that had happened, Puck might have jumped out of his window.

"You'll look after Katie? On your first weekend off in forever?" she added, quoting his words from earlier in the week.

"Yeah. Haven't seen her in a while, it'll be fine."

His mother looked amused, but seemed happy enough to have a day to herself. "All right then. Since you're looking after her, I might see if Shelley's has an opening for a bikini wax. Call me if you need help, or if you've hurt yourselves. Don't burn down the house!"

Puck waved her away, falling back on to his mattress with a sigh as she left, closing the door behind her. _Well, after that unwanted and terrifying information about his mother's bikini line, he no longer felt horny_... He muttered and sat up, pulling a pair of pants on.

It didn't take long for Katie to come knocking on her brother's door. She looked inside, and seeing that he was awake, she hurried inside eagerly.

"Noah? Can we go to the library? Pleeeeeease?" she begged, tugging on his arm.

"The library? Why would you want to go there for?" he asked, shaking his arm out of her grasp and rubbing his head with a yawn.

"Because it's the last day Mouse is doing story time for, like, ever!" Katie said, jumping on the spot briefly.

Puck looked at his sister in some sort of shock. "What?"

"Story time! You know, at the library! Mum used to take me every weekend, and since Mouse joined your singing thing, she's always been there instead of at the library! She's doing three different story times today, and then she's not coming back until after school's finished! Stupid exams, why do you have to take them anyway?" Katie asked, crossing her arms with a huff.

It took Puck a moment to process his sister's fast-paced words and come to the realisation that Mouse - _his Mouse_ - was at the local library.

"What time's the story things?" he asked, grabbing his watch.

"The first one is at 10, but we have to get there early, or I'll never get a seat!" Katie said.

"All right. You've already had breakfast, right?" Puck asked.

Katie nodded quickly. "So I can go?"

"If you can get changed in ten minutes, you can go."

Katie bolted from the room as fast as she could.

Puck chuckled and closed the door to get dressed properly.

...

Mouse led Candy up to the library, watching carefully as he hopped over the lines in the large tiles on the floor. Pressing the doorbell, Mouse waited until the door was opened by one of the library staff and went inside with Candy.

"Morning, Jane. Hello, Candon. How are you today?"

"Good, thanks, Gladys."

"Happy!" Candy said in an excited whisper.

"That's good to hear. Have you been enjoying school and singing?" Gladys asked, smiling at him.

"Yes. Sweet loves singing!" he said, grinning broadly. "Oh. How are you?"

"I'm well, thank you for asking," Gladys said, trying not to show her shock. In all of the years Candon had been coming to the library with his sister, he had never asked how she was. She hadn't minded, of course, knowing that the boy didn't know to ask.

"Mrs. Komp taught me to ask that," Candy said proudly.

"That's wonderful. Is Mrs. Komp nice?"

Candy nodded enthusiastically.

Mouse grinned as her brother started talking about school, and started to set up her things for story time. Apparently, she had been missed by a lot of the children, and some had cried when she hadn't shown up. She just hoped that they wouldn't be too upset from now until after her exams.

Mouse thought back to when she'd first started doing this, nearly five years ago now. She'd usually come to the library with Candy to get away from Sarah who, more often than not, was hung over and had some stranger in her bed. Mouse had started reading out loud to Candy so he wouldn't run around and as the weeks went by, more and more children started sitting around her. The children's librarian let Mouse volunteer at the library, even going so far as to make her story time a scheduled event for both parents and children to attend.

Candy loved making so many new friends, and always sat at the very front, listening intently to every story she read. A few times, he'd even asked her to bring the book home so she could read it to him again. When she did, he held onto the book tightly as they went home, and Mouse sometimes worried that his face hurt from smiling so much.

"Gladys needs to get back to the front desk now, sweetie. Why don't you choose your pillow and get comfy?" Mouse said, smiling at him.

Gladys smiled at the siblings and went to the loans desk to get ready for the day.

Candy nodded and went over to the large pillow box in the corner. He returned with a bright red one, sitting on it promptly and wriggling about to get comfortable.

There was a moment of silence, and then the library doors opened. Due to the amount of advertising and simple word-of-mouth, the story time event for today was highly anticipated. Children hurried inside, tens upon tens of them hurrying to the children's section of the library. Some parents accompanied them, but there were some who had been dropped off at the library alone, or just with an older sibling, who was generally no older than them anyway.

Mouse watched with a smile as some children brought their own pillows, parents carrying blankets, other children hurrying to get the best pillows from the box.

Her smile faltered for a moment when she saw Puck arrive with Katie. She knew that Puck had a sister, and Katie had an older brother, but until now, seeing them side by side, Mouse hadn't picked up on the family resemblance.

While she and Puck had spent a lot of last night together as they waited for his shirt to dry, they hadn't done anything other than talk. Their talk had been about so many different things, but they hadn't talked about anything emotional or relationship-related. Mouse was sort of glad they hadn't - it had been good to just talk with Puck - but she did wonder where that left them.

There was a small scream as two children fought over a pillow. Mouse looked away from Puck and to the children, her smile turning to a frown. Jamie and Danny were twins, and had since their parents dropped them off at the library every week, they always seemed to make their way to the story time. She held back her sigh; last time she'd seen them, they'd finally seemed to stop fighting. Just because she'd been gone a month or two, it didn't mean the rules had changed.

"Danny and Jamie. What have I told you about fighting?" Mouse asked sternly, holding her hand out.

"That we're not to," they chorused, handing her the pillow reluctantly.

"Sit down at each side of the group," she said.

Giving each other mean looks, they both went to opposite sides. Mouse threw the pillow back to the box for another child to use, knowing that by the end of the story, both Danny and Jamie would be sitting next to each other quietly.

When it seemed that everyone had arrived, the children were quiet, and everyone looked comfortable enough, Mouse opened a large picture book and began reading.

Puck stood at the back of the group, watching as all of the kids (and probably a lot of parents) listened, entranced by Mouse. She pulled faces, did voices, and made all of the appropriate noises.

"_Sammy tried to give some flowers to a little girl clown, but Babe the elephant suddenly scooped up the flowers with her trunk and ate them_!"

The gathered group laughed along as she exaggerated a sad face.

He grinned slightly and wandered off to a different section of the library as the story ended. Realising that he'd gone into the work-end of the library, he turned to leave when one of the librarians called to him.

"You're looking a little lost there, son. First time to the story time?" one of the older men asked, smiling at him kindly.

"Uh, yeah," Puck replied, looking through the tinted window to the group. Mouse had started another story, it seemed.

"Don't worry, they'll be fine. Jane always takes care of them. It's in her nature, has been ever since Candon was born."

"You know Mouse... I mean, Jane?"

The man chuckled at the nickname, the others smiling.

"Of course he does. Robert was the one who gave her the nickname."

"Was that at the hospital, or here in the library, Rob?"

"Hospital. She was always so quiet, even before Candon was born. I worked in the hospital back then, and saw her coming in with her mum when she was pregnant with Candon. Then one day when I was going off my shift, I saw little Jane all alone in the sitting room. Four years old, and there she was, telling me in the quietest voice that she was waiting for her mum to finish having her baby brother," he said, shaking his head.

"Apart from Robert, the rest of us have all known her since she was six years old. Came in right through that door, all serious-like, pushing her brother's pram," one of the elderly women said.

"Then she told the librarian on desk that she'd walked up here with that thing all by herself and would like to see the children's section, pretty please! Swear the darned thing was bigger than her." Another chuckle and shake of the head by someone else in the group.

It seemed like they'd talked about this often, if the way they were going on was any indication.

Someone rang the bell, and Gladys hurried back out to the front desk. Puck followed her and made his way back to the story time group.

"_It's time for me to have a bath. But how do I get up to the bathroom past all the anatosaurs playing on the stairs_?"

Giggles and dinosaur roars erupted from the children (Puck wasn't sure a dinosaur would start mooing like that one kid, but he seemed to enjoy it). He looked to where Katie was sitting, and saw that she was giggling with some friends.

Mouse finished the story and grinned at the kids. They knew the routine, and hurried to look at the picture books and toys before the last story. She had a drink of water, her mouth slightly dry after getting around the awkwardly pronounced dinosaur names.

"Hey Mouse. Having fun?" Puck asked, coming to stand beside her.

"Always do," she replied, grinning.

"How long have you been doing this?" he asked, indicating to the pile of pillows on the floor.

"A while... I didn't know Katie was your sister," she said with a smile.

"She looks more like my mum than I do," he replied, trailing off slightly when he saw the large pile of books his sister was collecting off the shelf.

"Well, she's always well behaved, so you can be proud of her."

"Sure," Puck said, thinking she was pulling his leg. _**His** sister was well behaved? The same one who screamed and ran around one minute, and then was timid and quiet the next_?

"Hi Mouse. What do you think of these ones?" Katie asked, passing Noah with a brief smile.

Mouse took the stack of books carefully, sitting them on her lap to look through.

"How did you like the books I suggested last time?"

Katie grinned brightly. "They were really good. The one with the aliens was my favourite!"

"Really? That's part of a series, so there's more for you to read. You remember the author?"

Nodding, Katie hurried back to the shelves. She returned a few minutes later with more books.

"Haven't you already read this one?" Mouse asked Katie with a grin.

She went red and nodded shyly. "I really like it."

"That's great. I'm sure your brother could buy it for you. It's your birthday soon, isn't it?"

Puck hadn't thought it possible, but Katie went brighter still.

"Yeah, in two weeks. I'm turning thirteen."

"Awesome! Are you having a party?"

"Yeah, I can't wait. It's a pool party," she said, grinning brightly.

"It is?" Puck asked, frowning.

"Yeah, Mum said you have to clean the pool next week so it's ready. You didn't forget, did you?" Katie asked, her eyes wide.

"Oh, that's right. I didn't forget," he said quickly, silently reminding himself to make a note in his work diary.

"You've got some really good books there, Katie," Mouse said, writing something on a piece of paper she'd pulled from her pocket. "I've written the book down for Noah to buy for your birthday, but act surprised," she added with a grin.

"I will! Thanks, Mouse," Katie said, taking the collection back from her. She immediately handed them to Puck, who looked slightly annoyed at being turned into a pack mule. "It's story time rules," she said quickly, hurrying to her friends and pillow on the floor.

Mouse laughed softly, and he turned to glare at her. "She's right, it's the rules. No more than one book during story time," she said, grinning at his expression. "Here, I'll put it in your pocket. I wrote a note about cleaning the pool too," Mouse added quietly so Katie wouldn't hear.

Puck's grip on the books tightened as she tucked the piece of paper into his pants pocket.

"Thanks," he said, somewhat hoarse.

"'Welcome. Go on, the kids are waiting," Mouse said with a smile.

Puck made his way to the back of the group, careful not to drop the books on some kid's unsuspecting head. Katie hurried over to him and put her card on top of the books, thanking him before going back to her spot.

Sighing, Puck headed to the loans desk. Gladys smiled when she saw how many books he had.

"Your sister is quite the avid reader," she said, checking out the books for him.

"Yeah, seems so. Not much of a reader myself," he admitted, feeling bad for saying that in a library of all places.

"You're not the first to have said that. Don't worry, not everyone likes reading," Gladys said pleasantly. "We do have a large collection of DVDs and CDs if you're interested in those. Just over to the left there," she added.

He thanked her and headed to the DVD section for the hell of it.

"Haven't you finished yet, Noah?" Katie said, tugging on his shirt.

"You're done already?"

"Yeah, we finished like five minutes ago! Sheesh, you're so slow. Come on, you can take me out for lunch," Katie said, smiling brightly.

"You don't want to stay in the library?"

Katie's eyebrows furrowed as she looked at him. "**You** want to stay?"

"Um... Sure, why not?"" he asked, seeing Mouse go past with Candy. "Here, I'll be back in a sec," he said, quickly handing Katie the library bag and going after them.

Katie looked annoyed at having to carry the bag, but she was too curious to see what had her brother _wanting_ to stay in a library, and she followed him.

"Hey Mouse, want help with that?" Puck asked, seeing a large pile of books in her arms.

"I'm fine, thanks anyway," she said with a smile. "You missed the last story."

"You were looking for me, then?" he asked, grinning.

"It was about a big brother and his little sister! She was really tiny! Like Quinnie's baby," Candy said with a decisive nod.

Mouse handed half of the books to Candy. "Go and get these, I'll get my bag, and we'll go out for lunch, okay?"

Candy nodded happily, heading to the end of the line at the loans desk.

"Where are you going?"

Mouse shrugged briefly. "Not sure yet. I'll see what Candy feels like first," she said, adjusting the books in her arms.

"I can drive you if you want."

"Sure, that'd be nice. Better than dragging this lot around," she added with a grin. "I'll be out in about ten minutes, okay? Just have to pack up."

"'Kay. I'll wait outside with Katie for you," Puck said.

Nodding her thanks, Mouse went into the staff entrance. Puck turned to go get Katie, and found that she was standing right behind him, her hands on her hips, and a very knowing smirk on her face.

"You wanted to stay here for Mouse, didn't you?" she asked, giggling. "You like her, don't you?"

"Come on, or I'm leaving you behind," Puck muttered, grabbing the bag and leaving the library quickly.

"_You love her, you want to hug her, you want to_ ..." Katie faltered for a moment, then grinned and continued, "_take her out to lunch_," she sang. Giggling when he just ignored her, Katie quickly followed him before he really did leave her behind.

...

Mouse said goodbye to everyone as she and Candy left the library.

"What do you want for lunch, sweetie?"

Candy thought about it hard, trying to figure out what he felt like eating.

"Sandwiches," Candy said. "And juice!"

"What's the magic word?"

"Abra-cadabra!" he replied cheekily, giggling. "Please, Mousie."

"All right, sweetie. Puck will drive us to Lo Cal Cafe, okay?"

"No, no, no! Sandwiches and juice at home!" Candy said, pouting.

"Are you sure? We can eat out as a treat," Mouse offered.

Candy shook his head adamantly. "Home!"

Puck was waiting beside his car, Katie already in her seat. He'd only just shut her up from singing that stupid song, and was trying to keep the song out of his head too.

"Hey, I hope you don't mind, but Candy just wants lunch at home," Mouse said.

"Oh, okay then," Puck said, trying not to show his disappointment.

"You could ... do you want to come over for lunch?" she asked, reddening slightly.

"Yeah, that'd be great. Katie won't mind," he added, looking to his sister.

She pretended to be singing again, and Puck moved so he was blocking her from Mouse's sight. Katie immediately erupted into giggles again.

"PBJ, PBJ, PBJ," Candy sang, doing a little dance as he waited impatiently for Mouse and Puck to finish talking.

"Okay, in you get, sweetie," Mouse said, opening the door for him.

"I'll get in the back," Katie said quickly from the front seat.

"Don't worry about it; I'll sit in the back with Candy," Mouse replied with a smile.

Puck drove carefully, seeing Candy's white-knuckled grip on Mouse's hand after a slightly fast turn. He wanted to ask Mouse how the hell they got to and from the library all the time; it was a twenty minute drive across town to her place!

"Thanks for driving, Puck. Just ... give me a minute, okay? I just want to check Sarah's not home," Mouse muttered, glowering at the front door briefly.

"Who's Sarah?" Katie asked curiously when Mouse and Candy were inside and out of earshot.

"Mouse's mother," Puck replied briefly.

"Oh... Reckon Mum would let me call her by her first name?"

Puck snorted. "She'd probably have a heart attack if you did."

Katie laughed, then stopped and looked at her brother, a large grin forming. "So, is Mouse Jewish or what?"

"Why are you so interested?"

"Oh, please. Mum's already going on about me finding a nice Jewish boy, and I've heard those talks she gives you."

"No, she's not Jewish, and I don't care. Neither should you, for that matter. You're not even thirteen yet!"

"Tell Mum that. Loudly and repeatedly," Katie muttered.

Puck looked at her for a moment, then grinned and ruffled her hair. "You're still a kid, keep acting like one, would you?"

"Thought you hated me running around like an idiot?" she replied, rolling her eyes as she hurried to fix her hair.

"Yeah, I do. But you can still do it sometimes," he said.

Katie was silent for a moment. "If I get nightmares, can I still come in your room?" she asked, her voice soft and timid.

Puck could see how Mouse might think Katie was well behaved now and then...

"Knock first, and for god's sakes, don't tell anyone," he added, getting out of the car when he saw Mouse waving for them to come inside.

"Sorry, should have checked my phone first. Sarah text me to say she won't be home until later. Do you like PBJ sandwiches, Katie?"

"Yeah!" she said, grinning.

"Candy, why don't you show our guest where the movies are, and let Katie choose one to watch?"

"Oh, but..." Candy began, his lower lip trembling.

"You know the rules, sweetie. Katie is our guest, isn't she?"

Candy nodded, still not looking too happy. Katie felt a bit bad, watching him put a DVD back on the shelf quickly.

Mouse went into the kitchen, Puck following her.

"You can choose," Candy said, suddenly smiling at Katie.

She grinned back at him, not feeling as guilty, and looked at the DVDs on the shelf, in particular the one Candy had put back. _The Little Mermaid_? _She hadn't watched that in forever. Well, maybe a year, since she'd insisted she was old enough to watch older movies (Schindler's list hadn't been the best option to start off with, _she thought with a shudder_). Actually, The Little Mermaid sounded great_.

"This one. Please," she said, smiling.

Candy's face lit up and Katie took the offered remote as he carefully put the DVD in the player.

Mouse made up the sandwiches quickly, looking to Puck every so often as he poured the drinks. She wasn't sure what to say, how to start a conversation, wondered if they even should be having a conversation. She concentrated as she cut the crust off the sandwiches, and was surprised when she felt arms wrap around her waist.

"Holding a knife here, Puck," she said, putting it down before either of them could get hurt. The last thing she wanted to do was stab her boyfriend... If that's even what he was.

"Would you go out on a date with me, Jane?"

"Is this your way of apologising?" she asked, her voice breathless.

"Is this you accepting my apology?" he replied, no less affected.

"Say the words, Noah," she murmured, but her tone much clearer.

"I'm sorry, Jane... Please, give me another chance. I'll treat you the way I should have treated you the first time round."

"You're forgiven, Noah. But you won't get another chance, got it?"

He turned her so they were face to face. "Got it," he said, kissing her.

Mouse smiled against his lips, her arms around his shoulders.

At the doorway, Katie pulled a face at the sight of her brother kissing someone. She snuck in, grabbed the sandwiches and drinks, and left before either one noticed.

As she sat on a beanbag beside Candy, eating a PBJ sandwich and watching _The Little Mermaid_, Katie decided her brother was right. She could keep acting like a kid for a while longer.

...

Later that night, Mouse was tucking Candy in after his bath. He was tired, but still insisted on Mouse reading him a story before going to sleep. It was the third one she'd read to the story time group, and Mouse was surprised to see it. She hadn't seen him take it.

Thankful that Sarah was still out for the night, and Candy would be settled and asleep by the time she did get home, Mouse opened the book to read.

"I always wanted a brother," Candy murmured sleepily when she'd finished.

"Why's that?" Mouse asked, her mind thinking up an irrational worry that she hadn't done something because she wasn't a boy.

"Because you love me so much, and another brother could look after you properly, and I could help him love you as much as I do."

Despite being so tired, Candy was very serious as he said this, and it took a lot of willpower for Mouse not to cry. She hugged him, trying not to squeeze him as tightly as she wanted to.

"Love you too, Candon," she whispered.

Candy snored against her gently, and with a smile, she settled him back on the mattress to sleep.

Mouse readied herself for bed absent-mindedly, thinking of Candy's words, one part in particular. _Another brother could look after you properly..._ It was one of the few times he'd made reference to being different, or not strong enough, smart enough, etc. to look after her. He'd grown up with Mouse looking after him for most of his life, and had wanted to do the same, telling her in a serious voice that he would look after her when he was bigger and stronger. She'd usually put it down to him wanting to grow up quickly, but now she wondered if he really thought that she needed looking after...

Mouse was still awake when Sarah came home a few hours later. She didn't leave her bed to greet her though, especially not when she heard some male laughter joining her mother's. Shuddering, Mouse put her earphones on and turned the music up loud enough to drown them out.

...

"Morning, Jane dear. How did you sleep?" Sarah asked pleasantly as she came into the dining room, dressed in nothing more than her robe.

"John Doe already left. Muttered something about his wife and kids when he saw me, by the way," Mouse replied, not looking away from the papers in front of her.

"He swore he was going through a divorce," Sarah muttered, taking out a pack of cigarettes. "So, what are you looking so intense about, anyway?" she asked, looking over her daughter's shoulder. "College brochures?" she snorted in disbelief. "You really think they're going to let you in to college? Do they have a goody-two-shoes scholarship now?"

"Yes, I do believe they'll accept me, and I still have my education fund, so I don't need a scholarship," Mouse replied tersely.

"Ah, yeah, about that. There's no money left in it," Sarah said with a sniff, heading out to the back to smoke.

"WHAT?" Mouse yelled.

"Well, you two needed a lot more taking care of than I thought. You think all of those bills and other shit just pay for themselves?"

"Meaning, you drank all of my college money?"

Sarah turned away, but not before Mouse saw her grin.

Mouse's yell had woken Candy, and she hurried upstairs to placate him. She could feel tears burning in her eyes, but blinked them back quickly, putting on a smile before she opened her brother's door.

"Sorry for waking you, sweetie. You okay?" she asked, trying not to let her voice waver.

Candy nodded, holding his arms out for a hug. Mouse gave him one, kissing the top of his head gently.

"Come on, want to go out today?" she asked, swallowing the lump forming in her throat as she looked at him with a smile.

"Okay!"

"You get dressed quickly, and I'll take you out for breakfast too," she said, giving him another smile as she left his room, shutting the door behind her.

She went into her room, grabbed her purse, phone, and put them in her handbag. She was back in the hallway moments later, not daring to dwell in her room for long. She knew that if she did, she would pack a bag and never come back.

This was truly the last straw. She had been through enough, had suffered each and every bout of drinking and abuse her mother put her through, all because she knew that she had that college money to get her out. She had made calculations based on how much money her grandmother had left her, knew exactly how much she needed to pay for college, how much she needed to earn every week in order to get the hell out of Lima. She'd only needed these few years at college to be able to afford enough money to get Candy out too, and she'd relied on that money ever since she'd been given it as her inheritance when she was seven years old.

Of course, since she'd been too young to have that much money at her disposal, it had been put into a bank account with her mother's signature. It was before the new laws regarding inheritance and children's savings had come into affect, and obviously, Sarah had taken the money and drank every last cent.

Her stomach twisted in anger and she forced herself to calm her hands out of their balled up fists. It took her longer than she would have liked.

"Ready!" Candy announced, opening his door.

"Oh, sweetie," Mouse said, a small laugh escaping, providing a brief reprieve from her anger. "I don't think going out in your pyjamas is a good idea," she said, trying to think of a reason that he'd understand. "They'll get very dirty, and then you won't be able to wear them for a long time," she added.

Candy's smile fell flat as he looked down at his clothes. _His Buzz Lightyear pyjamas were his favourite, and he didn't want them dirty_!

"Okay. Wait for me, Mousie," he said, closing the door and changing again.

"Much better," Mouse said with a smile. He was dressed in jeans and a Toy Story shirt, and had his bright red shoes on, the laces undone and waiting to be tied.

"Laces?" he asked, sticking his foot out.

Mouse nodded and tied them quickly. "Ready?"

Candy checked himself over, and then nodded. "Ready!"

Making herself smile again, she led Candy out of the house. He called out goodbye to Sarah when he saw her car in the driveway.

Sarah put out her cigarette, waved a sarcastic little wave to her neighbour who was glaring at her from her two-storey deck, and decided to open her hidden stash of alcohol. She'd even drink it in her back garden, just to spite the prissy bitch. _Who the fuck exercised on a Sunday_?

...

"Mr. Hummel? Sorry to disturb you on a Sunday, but I was wondering if Candy and I could stay over tonight please?" Mouse asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

Candy was drawing on the paper placemat, trying to complete the connect-the-dots, and didn't pay attention to his sister's conversation.

"I'm sorry, Jane, but I won't be at home tonight, and Kurt's staying with some friends. Perhaps you can stay with them instead?"

"That's fine. Thank you, Mr. Hummel. See you tomorrow after school," she said, hanging up and going to the next number.

Quinn had her phone switched off; Mercedes had a full house with both Kurt and Tina over; Artie had a recital with the jazz band; Finn was on a date with Rachel; Santana and Brittany were getting their teeth done or something (it had been hard to hear them on the phone); and Mike and Matt had dragged Puck off for a guy's day out at the local paintball place. Mr. Schuester was sleeping god knew where, and Mouse didn't want to burden him with her problems anyway.

"Come on, Candy. Let's go on the swings for a while," Mouse said with a smile, leading him to the park after paying for breakfast.

She would think of something else, somewhere else to stay. She couldn't face Sarah right now.

...

"When did Mouse call you?" Puck asked, frowning at Mike.

"Oh, before the game. You were changing. I told her we'd abducted you," he said, grinning.

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I was trying to stay alive, it kinda slipped my mind," Mike replied, his grin faltering.

"What did she call you for anyway?" Matt asked, frowning.

"Wanted to see if there was anyplace she could stay, or something. It was hard to hear over those speakers," he muttered.

Puck pulled over, took his phone out of his pocket and rang Mouse's phone. She didn't pick up.

...

"Higher! Higher!" Candy called, laughing happily as Mouse pushed him on the swing.

She smiled and kept pushing him until her arms hurt. Then, when he was satisfied with how high he was going, Mouse sat on the swing next to him, swaying slightly.

Her handbag was on the ground, her phone inside it and on silent.

...

"Call the others, we need to find her," Puck said, hitting redial on his phone.

"Seriously? I'm sure she's fine," Matt said.

"You really think she'd be calling for a place to stay if she was fine?"

Mike just started ringing their friends, already feeling guilty.

...

Mercedes hung up, looking pale. "Um, guys? We need to find Mouse. Like, now," she said, grabbing her bag and scarf.

"What's wrong?" Kurt asked with a frown, turning off the music.

"You know that phone call I got before? It was Mouse. I thought she just wanted to hang out, but ... well, she might be in trouble." Mercedes said, frowning.

"I'll call my dad," he replied, already opening his phone and going to his contact list.

Burt felt slightly sick when he hung up from Kurt's call. He thought that Jane hadn't sounded ... well, like she normally did, at least ... but he'd dismissed it as bad reception. Guilt turned in his stomach as he remembered how he'd promised that she and Candy would have somewhere to stay if they ever needed it. _And now, when they did need it, he'd broken his promise just because he was on a date_?

"Are you all right, Burt?" Carole asked, concerned.

He nodded briefly. "I think I just need some air," he murmured, excusing himself with a brief smile.

From what Kurt had said, most of the Glee club were out looking for her. He had no idea where Mouse could possibly be, and they were their friends. The most help he'd be was to drive around, but they all had cars and their licences, so that was basically moot. He'd tell Carole what had happened, keep his phone on, and hope that she understood when he explained why Jane was important to him, and more importantly, to Kurt.

...

Finn almost threw his phone out the window. _He'd just got to second base with Rachel, damn it_! He answered in anger, but soon, all of that frustrated emotion simply melted away.

"Uh, Finn? Are you all right?" Rachel asked, sitting up as she looked at him.

"Yeah. Yeah, fine. We've got to look for Mouse... She called before, when you were in the bathroom, and ... well, she needs help."

Rachel hurried to stand and fix her blouse. "We should check the usual places she might go to first. Do you know where that might be?"

Finn thought about it, but came up blank. He had no idea where Mouse would go on the weekend, other than Glee practice.

Rachel didn't have any idea either. "Maybe we should try her house; she might be home already."

Grateful that she'd thought of something, Finn nodded quickly, and after thinking about the postman for a moment, he went with Rachel to his car.

...

Mike had barely gotten past the sentence 'Mouse needs help, she has Candy with her', before Terrence had said he'd check the football grounds and promptly hung up.

They had nearly everyone from Glee looking around town (Artie couldn't leave the jazz practice, Quinn had her phone off, and Brittany and Santana were too drugged up to do much more than answer their phone with some happy laughter before a nurse had closed their phones with some clipped response to not call again).

"Has anyone checked the park yet?"

"The park?" Matt asked.

"Yeah, there's one near her house," Puck said.

"Finn and Rachel are checking her house, but they're in the opposite direction," Mike answered, checking his text messages.

Puck checked the oncoming traffic, and moments later, turned around with a squeal of rubber.

...

"Where do you want to go now, sweetie?" Mouse asked.

"Roundabout!"

Candy slid his feet along the ground, jumping off the slowing swing, and heading to the middle of the park.

Mouse followed him, deciding not to correct him. He held on to the bar, and when she was sure he was holding on tight enough, she pushed the circle around, jumping up on to the spinning disc. Gravity and wind pushed against her, her short hair flying against her face. Closing her eyes, Mouse tried to stop thinking all together. They slowed down, and at Candy's insistence, she got off and spun them around again.

...

"There they are," Puck said, sounding relieved.

"We'll text everyone," Mike said quickly.

Matt nodded, unlocking his phone as Puck pulled over.

The car door slamming made Mouse open her eyes, and she watched numbly as Puck ran towards them. They were still spinning around quickly, but he jumped straight up next to her nimbly. Candy yelled happily.

"Are you all right?" Puck asked.

She shook her head.

"Hey, Candy. You been on the slide yet?" Mike called.

Candy waited until the spinning had stopped and got off carefully, his footsteps wobbly. Matt and Mike gave a laugh and helped him over to the slide.

"What's wrong?" Puck asked, glad that they'd distracted Candy.

"It's all gone."

"What?"

"It's all gone. All of my college money. She drank it all away. I can't get out... I'm going to be stuck here until I die... And now, Candy won't be able to get out either. I just ... She drank all of my money!" Mouse said, her voice hoarse with disbelief.

Puck didn't even bother asking who 'she' was. He put his arm around her shoulders.

"Lots of kids go to college without money. You can do that too, can't you?"

"It's not the point, Noah. She **drank** all of my money away. I've been waiting for that money since I was seven years old!" she said, all but screaming. "She drank every last cent and then she told me that I had my education fund for college. She told me it was there, and she drank it all! And then when she was drunk, she'd verbally abuse Candy. She abused Candy with **my** money, Noah."

He didn't know what to say to that, and just hugged Mouse.

One by one, cars pulled up to the park. Candy was happy to see everyone (Terrence had called the entire football team, unsure of what sort of 'help' Mouse needed), and Puck and Mouse were left alone until dark.

...

"Why are you suddenly bringing girls home, Noah? And with her brother, no less? What sort of name is Mouse anyway? She's good at reading and seems nice enough, but she's not Jewish, is she?"

"She doesn't have to be Jewish, Mum. Just leave it, okay? Mouse can sleep in Katie's room, that 'kay?" Puck said, turning to his sister.

"Yeah. But what about Candy?" Katie asked.

"He can have my bed. I'll take the floor."

"All right. I'll go make up my spare mattress," Katie said, suddenly embarrassed about the state of her room.

"I'm going to get Mouse and Candy inside. Mum, just ... be nice, okay?" Puck asked with a sigh.

"When am I not nice?"

Puck refrained from comment, and went out to his car where Candy and Mouse were waiting. "Hey, come on in. Katie's just cleaning her room up," he said with a slight grin.

Mouse nodded, still looking far too wooden for his liking, and his grin slipped. Candy had been distracted by everyone to the point of exhaustion, and Puck had to carry him to the car. He was careful to lift him out of the seat and inside, the younger boy snuggling up to him.

His mother didn't say a word as he took Candy upstairs. After laying Candy on his bed, Puck went back down to see Mouse standing in the hallway, staring but not seeming to see anything. His mother looked creeped out at her expression, and soon muttered something about a TV show, heading into the lounge room quickly.

"Mouse?" No response. "Jane, come on. Let's get you upstairs," Puck said, taking her hand.

She followed him automatically. Katie's mixture of excitement and embarrassment had morphed into something terrible, but her room was clean at least (she was standing in front of her wardrobe protectively), and the trundle bed was made up beside her bed. Her excited energy faded soon after seeing Mouse's flat expression, and Katie left to watch TV with her mother.

Puck helped Mouse take her shoes off and tucked her into the bed. "I'm right across the hall, okay? Come get me if you need," he said, hoping that would get through to her.

Mouse nodded briefly, turning to look up at the ceiling. "Thanks," she whispered as he left, so quiet Puck wasn't even sure she'd said something.

He made sure that Candy was comfortable, and then went downstairs to say goodnight to his mother and sister. He hugged both of them, ignoring their shock and surprise, suddenly grateful that they were who they were. Sure, his mother was blunt to the point of embarrassment and sometimes nausea, and his sister could get on his nerves every now and then, but they'd never purposely try to destroy his future.

"Good night. I ... I love you both, you know that, right?"

His mother was silent for so long that Puck was almost sure she'd had a silent heart attack. "Love you too, Noah," she said finally, smiling.

Katie got up and hugged him. "Love you too... Look after Mouse, okay?"

He nodded, ruffling her hair when she pulled away. _He intended to do just that_.

...

Mouse came out of her stupor around 4 in the morning. She hadn't slept a wink, but had pretended that she had, so as not to scare or worry Katie.

She felt bad at everything that had happened, wishing she could ring everyone immediately and apologise for scaring them. Puck's earlier words had been correct, she knew that now, but at the time, she hadn't wanted to hear them. She'd apply for a scholarship, she'd work her ass off and she would not only get herself out of Lima, but she'd get Candy out the first moment she could. She'd just have to work a bit harder, that's all, but she would do it.

Listening to her surroundings for a moment, Mouse sat up, got off the mattress, and left the room quietly.

Puck woke up when the mattress dipped beside him. He opened his eyes groggily, staring in disbelief when he saw Mouse beside him. Was he dreaming again?

"I'm sorry, Noah," she whispered.

_Probably not a dream. At least, he'd hope his own dream-version of Mouse would have said something a bit hotter than that after getting into bed with him. And she was still in the same clothes from yesterday, so definitely not a dream_.

"What for?"

"For scaring you, for putting you through this. It's my problem, and I should have dealt with it on my own. I ... I just couldn't see Sarah again tonight."

"You're allowed to share your problems, you know. More people and less stress, or whatever the saying is," he said with a yawn. "And you don't have to be sorry," he murmured sleepily.

"Noah?" Mouse asked softly, her hand on his arm.

"Mmm?"

"Hold me?"

Puck opened an eye to see if she was testing him or something.

Mouse looked straight back at him, suddenly feeling nervous and shy. She'd just asked him to sleep with her (in the non-sexual sense, at least), and if he agreed, then he would be the first person who had ever done so. That didn't mean she wanted him getting any ideas since she was vulnerable, like he had with Quinn and the wine coolers...

He gave her a somewhat sleepy grin, putting his arm around her waist and pulling her close.

"Sleep now," Puck murmured, rubbing her back gently as they both dozed off to sleep.

...

End of the nineteenth chapter.

I hope you liked it!

...

The books that Mouse reads from are part of the Little Golden Book series. I don't own any rights or anything legal-related to these books.  
1) _Precious moments: put on a happy face_! by Debbie Wiersma.  
2) _There are Tyrannosaurs trying on pants in my bedroom_by Jim Heartney.

The third mentioned book is a picture book (_What a Good Big Brother_! by Diane Wright Landolf.), and I also don't own anything to do with it.


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee. I do own Mouse, Candy, and Sarah though!

_Thank you to everyone for reading the previous chapter, and thank you to those that reviewed.  
_

...

Chapter Twenty

...

Mouse felt awful, both emotionally and physically, even more so since everyone was being so nice to her. She'd been up at six thirty with Candy needing the bathroom, and despite the sleep she'd had in Puck's arms, she hadn't slept as long as she could have, and felt ready to snap at someone.

She'd arrived at school feeling tired and grumpy, and realised in home group that she didn't have her school bag, which meant no pens, papers, books, textbooks, or assignments. Mouse was still wearing her clothes from the day before, and they were starting to smell a bit stale after having slept in them too.

During their study and recess break, Kurt and Mercedes had gone to her house, used the hidden spare key to get inside, and brought back not only her and Candy's bag, but also a new outfit for her. Mouse had been so thankful to change that she hardly realised what she was wearing until it was already on her body.

"Give me back my pants! I am **not** wearing a dress! Wait, I don't even _own_ a dress... You went into Sarah's closet, didn't you?" Mouse muttered.

"Oh, please. You'll look fabulous, and it's not like she didn't have enough clothes bursting out of those doors. Now put the rest of the outfit on, and at least look at yourself before you try to take your pants back," Kurt said cheerfully, stuffing her pants into the very bottom of his bag. He was certain that once she saw her reflection, she wouldn't want them back anyway.

Mercedes was giving Mouse's homework to Tina so she could give them to the appropriate teachers. The teachers hadn't been pleased, but were still forgiving, when they heard that Mouse had left her bag at home. When she had them all, Tina ran to the teacher's lounge.

"I can't believe you brought me a _dress_," Mouse muttered as she came out of the stall.

Kurt and Mercedes didn't say anything, and she looked at them with a frown. They looked stunned, to say the least. She caught her reflection in the bathroom mirror and moved back a bit so she could see properly.

A sleeveless black dress that went up to her knees, a shirt-sleeved khaki shirt (Mouse thought she'd lost this shirt almost a year ago, so she had no idea how or where they'd found it, but was happy to find that she still fit into it), a thick black belt just under her bust, and ankle-high boots.

"What do you think?" Kurt asked, finally recovering.

Mouse looked away from her unfamiliar reflection. "It's ... very nice," she said, surprised by her own admission.

"**Just** very nice?" Mercedes asked with a grin. "Girl, you look great!"

"Now, for the final touch," Kurt said, bringing out two tubes, one of lip gloss and the other of mascara.

"Oh, no you don't!" Mouse squealed, going back in the cubicle and locking the door.

Mercedes and Kurt grinned at each other. They could wait all day for her to come out of there...

...

Mouse muttered about glitter-filled nightmares as Kurt and Mercedes cheerfully dragged her out of the bathroom. They were late for English, and the corridors were void of life. She was just glad that the whole school wouldn't be staring at her sudden makeover. She'd come to a compromise by letting Kurt and Mercedes put lipgloss on her but not the mascara. They'd finally agreed and had almost broken the cubicle door down to get her out.

"Sorry we're late, sir. We had an emergency," Kurt said loudly, going with Mercedes to their seats, and leaving Mouse standing at the door.

She flushed when a few of the guys cat-called and wolf-whistled, trying unsuccessfully to get over to her desk unnoticed. Puck was staring at her with darkened eyes, and Mouse slid onto her seat, her face burning brightly.

"All right, that is quite enough. I hope that you have all finished your assignments on Macbeth," Mr. Jefferson said sternly, making the noise stop.

Mouse grabbed her bag from Kurt, thanking him quietly.

Jackie Richton glared at her. "Slut," she hissed.

Mouse paled at the insult, the sudden change leaving two bright spots on her cheeks.

"Pot, meet kettle. You're both black," Tina muttered, Kurt hiding a quiet laugh behind his hand.

Jefferson didn't hear, his back to them as he wrote on the blackboard at the front of the class.

The anger and grumpy feelings she'd been feeling earlier came back in full force, and Mouse had to stop herself from getting up and slapping the girl behind her. Her hands actually trembled with the effort it took, but she managed to calm herself down, and returned to her work instead. _Just ignore it. She'll get bored and stop soon enough_.

She didn't.

English passed without further incident, but as Mouse went to leave, she felt something tap her back, and Jackie passed her with a satisfied smirk. Puck took the taped paper off her back, tearing it into pieces without letting her read it.

Maths had Jackie tearing bits of paper and flicking them onto Mouse. By the time Chemistry ended, her outfit was ruined by a spilled experiment, and at lunch, Jackie 'accidentally' dropped her bowl of soup on Mouse's head.

Kurt almost had a heart attack when he saw the chicken-flavoured water staining the khaki shirt, and the spots from the experiment littering the hem of the dress. Mercedes wouldn't let him look at Mouse's shoes.

"I don't care about the outfit, Kurt. She's pulling juvenile crap because she's jealous or insecure or what ever. I don't friggin' care. Just give me back my pants so I can clean up," Mouse said, holding out her hand.

She was glad that Puck, Finn, Terrence and the other footballers had taken Candy down to the oval when they realised what Jackie was doing. Even though Puck hadn't wanted to leave her, they both knew that Candy wouldn't have understood why Mouse was being bullied, and if he did, then he would have felt worse for not being able to help or stop it.

Kurt was quiet as he handed her rolled up pants back.

"We'll come with you," Mercedes said, standing up with Tina.

"No, don't worry. I can get changed on my own."

Mouse left before they could follow her.

Quinn looked over at Jackie, who was laughing with some friends. She didn't like the way the girl was watching Mouse, and when Jackie left a few moments later, Quinn followed her with Santana and Brittany.

"Where are you three going?" Sue asked, looking down at them. "You haven't eaten yet, and you're on strict protein-based diets for Cheerios. Get back in the cafeteria," she said to Brittany and Santana.

"But Mouse is going to the bathroom..." Brittany began to say.

"I'm sure she's a big girl who can go to the bathroom on her own. Now get back inside," Sue snarled.

Santana and Brittany looked at Quinn for a moment, then went back into the cafeteria.

"And you, Q, you can come with me. You've been skipping out on your doctor's bills, so I've been told," Sue said, taking Quinn down to her office.

Sue hadn't wanted to get involved. But Quinn was her star cheerleader, preggers or not. The sooner she got the kid out of her, the sooner she could get back on the squad, and the championship would be hers for the taking.

"Ms. Sylvester, you don't understand," Quinn tried to protest.

"Of course I do. You don't have any money and you're not looking after yourself, or the illegitimate bastard inside you. Can't have you fainting on championship day, can I?"

"W-what?"

...

Puck swallowed the last of his ham sandwich and hurried to get to Spanish class. The others had already text him to tell him that Jackie (so that was her name!) had dumped her soup on Mouse. There had been some excessive tear-faced emotes from Kurt about the loss of the outfit, but they'd assured him Mouse was fine and had gone to change.

"Hey, Puck, take a seat. You were almost late. Anyone with you?" Schue asked, expecting Mouse to come in with him.

"No..." he said with a frown, seeing that Mouse wasn't in class.

Kurt and Mercedes shrugged at him. They hadn't seen her since she'd left the cafeteria, but had figured she'd needed some time alone.

"Don't have my bag, I'll be right back," Puck said, leaving at a run.

It didn't take long for him to find them, considering the hallways were deserted, and he could hear screaming. He quickly replied to Kurt's text, and in the Spanish classroom, Kurt's phone beeped loudly. His mouth fell open when he read the words. _Girl fight, auditorium_.

"Girl fight in the auditorium," Kurt whispered, loud enough for the students surrounding him to hear.

Schue was monologuing about Spanish verbs or something, and didn't hear what he'd said.

"Uh... I forgot my bag too. Sorry, Schue," Kurt said, basically dragging Mercedes out with him.

Tina hurried after them, and by the time it took the news to travel around the classroom, Schue was left wondering what had happened to his class. He went after them with a frown. Figgins would fire him the moment he heard he'd just let his entire class leave while he was teaching!

As Schue neared the auditorium, he swore he could hear music, and wondered if the glee club had put on an impromptu performance. _If his entire Spanish class was excited enough to leave to watch them, that had to be a good thing. Maybe he could get them to sing in Spanish and pass it off as teaching_?

Engrossed as he was in his thoughts, it took Schue a moment to realise that the sounds he were hearing definitely weren't caused by a song. The sounds were a chorus of 'fight!' being yelled, and Mouse quite definitely kicking Jackie Richton's ass.

Jacob Ben Israel grinned over at Mr. Schuester. "So, is this what you're teaching in the auditorium these days, Schue?" he asked, turning his camera on to him.

...

_I'm saying, don't say I'm not all right.  
I'm used and confused and,  
Still putting up a good fight.  
I'm still putting up a good..._

_So don't say I'm not all right.  
I'm used and confused and,  
Still putting up a good fight.  
I'm still putting up a good..._

_F - I - G - H - T!  
Fight! Fight! Fight!_

"Please come in, Jane," Emma said, holding the door open for her.

Jackie left the room and sat on the chair across from where Mouse was sitting, sobbing into a tissue.

Mouse opened her eyes and turned her music off reluctantly. She glared at Jackie before she went in to the room. She'd been made to attend this session in order to "get to the bottom of the fight". Her mother had even been called in, but Jackie's mother hadn't needed to attend when the cougar informed Figgins she'd be making a large donation to the school that afternoon.

Sarah followed her daughter into the room, smiling at Will, and delighting in his unease. "Hello again, Will. What a pleasure to see you," she purred.

"Hello, Mrs. Franklin. Please, sit down, and we can get to the bottom of this as soon as possible."

Emma glanced between Sarah and Will, not looking overly confident, but slightly reassured that Will looked uncomfortable in the other woman's presence.

"Now, Mouse, I just want to hear your side of the story. We've heard Jackie's version, and we just need to determine what happened..."

Like them, she wanted to get out of this uncomfortable room and the awkward atmosphere sooner rather than later. She wanted to get Candy and go home, and she did not want to see her mother for as long as she could help it.

"She's been bullying me all day because I got back together with Puck... She threw paper at me, spilled her science experiment on my clothes, dumped her food on my head, and when I went to clean up, she followed me and tried to knock me out. I went to the auditorium so she'd leave me alone, but then she followed me in there and started calling Candy names. I snapped and lashed out physically," Mouse said.

She didn't look at her mother, because she knew the look she'd see, and Mouse wasn't sure if she had that much control over herself not to scream at her.

"Oh, Jane sweetie. I know you were upset about the money, but I'm very upset that you felt you had to hurt the poor girl outside, and to drag your poor brother into this all? I'm very disappointed," Sarah said.

Emma faltered, a wide-eyed look between Mouse's clenched jaw and Sarah's tears. "Money? I don't see how that relates to the fight she had with Jackie over bullying."

"Well, my little Jane found out that I had to spend her education fund on hospital and medical bills for poor Candon, and ... well, she got upset. She took off and didn't come home for the whole night, and even took Candon with her. I had no idea where she'd gone, or where she'd taken my poor baby," Sarah said, sniffling. "And then I get the call today saying she's been in a fight with a girl at school? It's obviously the stress and emotional turmoil that's got to her. She used to be such a good girl. I don't know what I've done wrong. I must be an awful mother if my sweet Jane has turned out like this!"

Mouse wondered what the hell her mother was doing. It was obvious that no one would believe Sarah's words, and she wondered if it was a way of making her look bad, or a way for Sarah to get attention.

"Now, now. You're not an ... awful mother," Will said, wondering why his stomach twisted and the words tasted like ash in his mouth.

Sarah clung to him immediately, and Mouse looked away in disgust. _Sarah was doing it for attention; of course she was_...

Emma's eyes widened even further and she coughed slightly, turning her attention to Mouse.

"If you apologise to Jackie, I'm sure this will all blow over soon enough. And if you like, I can give you some information about scholarships of financial aid for universities and colleges tomorrow," Emma said.

"I have to apologise to her? What about _her_ apology to me? She insulted my brother and called him a _retard_!" Mouse practically shouted.

Emma was surprised that she didn't mention Jackie's bullying towards Mouse herself, but wondered if the young girl even cared.

"Are you sure you didn't hear her incorrectly?" Will asked hesitantly, remembering what had happened with Kent when the jock had used _that _word.

He tried to pry Sarah off his arm, but she was like ... _an octopus with it's prey_, he thought, remembering Mouse's depiction last week.

"She said it _three times_. I heard her perfectly fine," Mouse replied, her jaw and fists clenched.

"I am sure that Jackie will apologise as well," Emma said, opening the door and calling Jackie inside.

Mouse suddenly started to feel claustrophobic; Jackie's triumphant little smirk, her mother clinging and touching Schuester, the man's utter helpless and horrified look, the slightly sickened expression on Emma's face.

"Sorry for hitting you," Mouse muttered, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible.

"Me too," Jackie said, batting her eyelashes in a way she thought made her look innocent.

Mouse rolled her eyes and left the room, not stopping even when she heard Schue saying something about Jackie not apologising properly.

Heading to the football oval, she saw Puck and Terrence throwing a football around with Candy.

"Hey, sweetie. Ready to go home?" Mouse called.

Candy waved over to her, grinning broadly. Terrence picked Candy up, grinning when the boy giggled and laughed loudly, the football clutched in his hands. Puck headed up to her, frowning slightly when he saw how tense she was.

"How'd it go? Is she suspended?"

Mouse snorted. "Of course not. Her mother made a very large donation to the school this afternoon. We had to apologise to each other, and now it's all swept under the rug... I have to see Miss Pillsbury again tomorrow since Sarah announced she spent all of my education money on Candy."

"Obviously, she didn't, or you wouldn't look so annoyed," Terrence said, grinning slightly.

Candy was still giggling away, and oblivious to their conversation.

"She got benefits from the government every single week, and used that to pay for anything medical. She had enough money from work to cover our living expenses, and had no need to touch **any** of it," Mouse said, her stern tone making Candy stop giggling. She forced herself to smile at him. "Ready to go home now, sweetie?"

He nodded and wriggled out of Terrence's arms, going over to the bleachers to get his bag.

"You don't have to go back there, you know. You can come over to mine again," Puck murmured.

"With the spiel Sarah's probably putting on in there, if I don't go home again tonight, I'll probably have sessions with Miss Pillsbury from now until when I graduate," Mouse said, rolling her eyes. "Thanks for the offer though," she said with a smile.

"Call me if anything happens, okay?" Puck said, kissing her.

Terrence covered his laugh with a cough when he saw the face Candy was pulling at them.

"Do you know you still smell like chicken soup?" Puck said, grinning when she whacked him on the arm.

...

After settling Candy in with his homework, Mouse headed straight for the bathroom to have a shower.

By the time she was clean and dressed (_and no longer smelled of chicken soup, thank you very much, Puck_!), Sarah still wasn't home. Mouse didn't care that she wasn't, she just hoped that her mother wasn't flirting with Schue again. He wasn't emotionally strong, and her mother had years of experience when it came to bedding people through manipulating their emotions. With that thought in mind, Mouse rang Mr. Schue. She silently hoped that he hadn't succumbed to Sarah.

"Mouse?" Schue answered, sounding surprised.

"Hey, Schue. I was just wondering if Glee club was still on tomorrow morning?" she asked cheerfully, biting her lip so she wouldn't blurt out the real reason for her call.

"We have Regionals soon, of course it is," Schue replied, grinning now.

"All right then. Have you seen my mother? I'm worried that she's gone off on another drinking binge," Mouse replied, sounding worried.

_Sarah wasn't the only one who could reveal personal information_, she thought viciously. Mouse was a better actor than her mother, so the worry in her voice almost sounded real to herself.

"No, I haven't seen Sarah. She left soon after you did, I'm surprised that she isn't already home. That's where she said she was going, after all. Do you want me to check the carpark for you?" Will asked.

"No, thank you though. I'm sure she'll be home soon," Mouse said, saying goodbye and hanging up.

Mouse sighed, looking at her watch. She knew exactly where Sarah had gone. There was a bar called 'Just Like Home' across town, which the regulars called 'Home' instead. It was open in ten minutes, and by the time Sarah arrived, she would probably be the first one on the bottle.

Going through her phone's contact list, Mouse found the number for the bar and rang them to let them know that Sarah would be arriving soon. The owner, Trish, thanked her, and immediately set her staff to DEFCON Sarah.

After seven drinks, when Sarah hit her inevitable desire to have vodka, it would be replaced with water instead. It was a precaution not only for their bar (the amount of times they had needed to replace furniture, tabletops, even the entire bar at one point after Sarah's visits, had almost sent Trish bankrupt), but also one for Sarah's children too. Trish was a mother herself, and while Mouse had never said anything, she could see that Sarah's drunken outbursts ended up with someone getting hurt. Whether the hurt was physical, emotional or mental, it was still damaging.

So, after Sarah's seventh drink, when she was so drunk that she started flirting with chairs (another set of chairs had to be replaced that time she got to her tenth drink without someone realising), her drinks were either diluted or replaced entirely with water and a slice of lemon. She couldn't tell the difference by that time anyway.

There was a crash as the doors opened, and Trish refrained from sighing when she saw her first customer for the night.

"Trish, darling! I'm sorry I haven't been here for a while, life has been so busy lately!" Sarah said dramatically as she entered the bar.

The entire Home staff braced themselves for a night of Sarah, each and every one thankful that it was only a night.

...

"Now, Jane, why don't you tell me how you feel about your mother spending your college money on Candon's medical bills and education?"

Mouse glowered down at Emma's table. She wondered how the counsellor would like it if she had to talk about her feelings in regards to Tanaka, whom no one had seen or heard from since Emma had dumped him at the altar. She looked up at Emma, who was sitting there with wide eyes, waiting expectantly for an answer.

"As Sar... my mother didn't spend the money on Candy, I can't have any feelings for it, can I?" she muttered.

"What do you believe your mother spent the money on, if not your brother?"

Mouse didn't reply. She folded her arms across her chest and followed the seconds ticking by on her watch. A beat began to sound in her head, ticking along with the sound of her watch...

Emma frowned when she realised that the young woman across from her wasn't going to answer her question. "Our time is running out, Jane."

_Our time is running out,  
Our time is running out.  
You can't push it underground,  
You can't stop it screaming out._

_I wanted freedom,  
Bound and restricted.  
I tried to give you up,  
But I'm addicted._

_Now that you know I'm trapped sense of elation,  
You'd never dream of breaking this fixation.  
You will squeeze the life out of me_...

A buzzer sounded, startling Mouse and stopping the song in her head.

_The session was over_, she realised in relief. She grabbed her bag, put it over her shoulder and left without a word.

Emma sighed as the door closed behind Jane's silent exit. _When would the students realise that she was only trying to help them_?

...

"Hey Candy, go on through; Kurt's made some food and drinks up for you," Burt said.

Candy thanked him and went inside, walking past the auto parts carefully.

"Afternoon, Jane. How are you?" Burt asked, smiling at her briefly.

He was still feeling guilty over not helping her on the weekend, and hoped that she would forgive him.

"Fine, thanks, Mr. Hummel. How are you?" Mouse asked as she went to the desk.

"Fine..." he replied.

"Has Mrs. Jackson collected her car yet?"

"She came and went about fifteen minutes ago. She said that she would have waited to say hello, but she needed to pick her son up from school," he replied.

The phone rang, and Mouse answered it promptly. Burt sighed and slid under a car he was repairing.

"Mr. Hummel? Do you mind if I turn the radio off? It's just talkback now," Mouse said after she'd finished the phone call.

"Fine by me," he called. The radio was turned off immediately.

Mouse continued her job of filing and organising the mess that had covered Burt's desk. He might have known where everything was, but after finding a mould-covered sandwich under a pile of paperwork, Mouse certainly hoped he hadn't known that it was there.

"I'm sorry about not helping you on the weekend, Jane..."

His admission was quiet, and it took Mouse a moment to realise that he was talking to her.

"I should have been there for you, as I'd promised to do, and after everything you've done for both me and Kurt... Well, I'm just sorry I didn't help, and I hope that you and Candy are all right."

Mouse looked over to Burt, where his feet were sticking out from under a car.

"You don't have to be sorry for anything, Mr. Hummel. I shouldn't have burdened you with my problems in the first place... But... Thank you, Mr. Hummel," she said quietly.

"You're welcome," he replied gruffly, coughing and blinking quickly to clear his eyes.

Mouse hid a smile. She started to sing a song by John Mellencamp, knowing that it was his favourite singer. She grinned when Burt sang along quietly.

...

"All right, I want to see where you all are. Sectionals is close, and you need to all be at your best," Schue said, looking at each of them. "I want each of you to choose a song, and on Friday, you'll sing in front of the rest of the Glee club. Yes, Rachel?"

"I propose that we make the songs as emotional as possible. We all seem to do our best when there's emotion involved," Rachel said, looking to her fellow Glee members.

"It's a good idea," Will conceded, "but as I said, it's a song of your choice... Now, I'll let you have the rest of this rehearsal off in order to find a song."

Mouse left the auditorium with Candy, who was humming a song under his breath.

"Do you want help finding a song, sweetie?" she asked.

Candy stopped, a frown on his face as he thought about it. "No, sweet is good!" he replied, grinning broadly.

"Oh, really? So what are you going to sing?" she asked, smiling at him.

"Secret," Candy said, putting his finger to his lips.

"Do you have any idea what you're going to sing, Mouse?" Kurt asked.

"A couple ideas, but I'm not sure yet. You?"

"I'll think of something," he said with a shrug.

There was a trill as his phone went off, and Kurt's face lit up when he saw that the text was from Blaine. He hurried off to his locker with a quick smile.

Mercedes looked after her friend, and sighed, turning away and heading to the cafeteria. Mouse was sure she heard her muttering something about tater tots.

...

End of the twentieth chapter. I hope you liked it!

_A new poll regarding a future chapter is up. Please vote if you want a say in the story!_

...


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. I do own Mouse, Candy, and Sarah though!

Thank you to those who read the last chapter, and especially to those who reviewed.

...

Chapter Twenty One

...

"All right, I hope you're all ready for your solos!" Schue said enthusiastically, grinning as he came into the auditorium.

While the Glee club seemed assured, Will couldn't help but notice that the band looked a little apprehensive. He wondered if it was too much to ask them to learn thirteen new songs in a week. He'd have to plan it better next time...

"Who wants to go first?" he asked, looking to his students.

Nearly everyone stepped back quickly, Santana pulling Brittany with her - _maybe they weren't that confident then_, Will mused - leaving Rachel standing at the front.

"Rachel, thank you for volunteering," Will called, motioning her to go onto the stage.

Rachel faltered for a moment, then squared her shoulders and smiled at Mr. Schuester. "I was going to request that I go first anyway."

The band opened their music sheets, waiting for Rachel to get ready.

"You're not always easy to share space with,  
Some days you wake up ten times bigger than you are.  
I can't get my arms around you,  
And we are silent worlds apart.  
Should I introduce myself?

"I'm pleased to meet you,  
You don't seem to recognise me.  
But you know, you look just like someone,  
That I used to know.  
I'm pleased to meet you,  
You know I think you used to love me,  
But now it seems like that was a whole lifetime ago."

It didn't escape anyone's notice that Rachel hadn't looked away from Finn while singing, and Mouse wondered what had happened between them.

"If you don't look at me, do I disappear?  
And all you say these days are things that I don't wanna hear.  
I don't think that you remember, I don't think that you recall,  
It was always you and me against the world.  
Should I introduce myself?

"I'm pleased to meet you,  
You don't seem to recognise me.  
But you know, you look just like someone,  
That I used to know.  
I'm pleased to meet you, I'm pleased to meet you,  
You know I think you used to love me,  
But now it seems like that was a whole lifetime ago."

Finn looked away from Rachel's intense gaze, and her voice raised as she continued to sing.

"So I guess I'll see you 'round sometime,  
And one day you might,  
Think we've met before.  
You'll turn to me and say,  
I'm pleased to meet you,  
You don't seem to recognise me.  
But you know, you look just like someone,  
That I used to know.

"I'm pleased to meet you,  
You look just like someone that I used to know.  
I'm pleased to meet you,  
You know I think you used to love me,  
But now it seems like that was a whole lifetime ago."

Will hurried to clap when Rachel finished singing, and the tension in the air was obvious enough for even Candy and Brittany to look between Rachel and Finn, looking awkward.

Without a word, Finn stood up and took the stage. The band barely managed to start playing before he began singing. The guitar and drums upped the tempo to keep with Finn's time.

"It's been a bad day,  
But tonight, my love,  
It only gets worse.  
It's been a bad day,  
But tonight, my love,  
It only gets worse.

"You never said there was anything,  
You never said there was anything,  
Wrong."

Rachel refused to look up at the stage, but Finn continued to sing his pain and anger and confusion.

"We're in a bad way,  
But tonight, my love,  
It only gets worse.  
We're in a bad state,  
But tonight, my love,  
It only gets worse.

"You never said there was anything,  
You never said there was anything,  
Wrong.

"You never said there was anything,  
You never said there was anything,  
Wrong.  
You never said there was anything,  
Wrong, wrong."

Candy held Mouse's hand, trembling slightly as Finn dropped the microphone on to the stage.

The clapping, led by Will again, was hesitant and no one looked at anyone else as Finn walked off the stage and sat down as far away from Rachel as possible.

"Okay..." Will trailed off, wondering just how bad this idea had been. "Who's next?"

There was silence from all of them, the tension in the atmosphere destroying their previous good moods.

Santana sighed heavily. "I'll go next, Schue," she muttered, moving to the stage. Quinn and Brittany followed her up to be back up dancers.

"Taxi ride, going downtown,  
Me and my girls, goin' out.  
Counting down to detonation,  
Ten to zero, mushroom cloud.

"Little angel, I've been too good,  
Ditch the halo for a while.  
Dressed to kill, I'll be causing,  
Mass distraction, so shield your eyes.

"I'm all steamed up, and I'm ready to blow,  
The pressure max, metre red, overload.  
To get release, I gotta explode.

"I'm a bomb,  
Can you hear me tick?  
Be aware, if you turn me on,  
There is no safety switch.  
I'm a bomb, use only steady hands.  
To mess with me,  
You must be a brave man.

"Bass so loud, I can't hear you.  
Can't diffuse me, now I'm wired.  
Do not disturb me while I'm dancing,  
Watch me set this house on fire.

"I'm a bomb,  
Can you hear me tick?  
Be aware, if you turn me on,  
There is no safety switch.  
I'm a bomb, use only steady hands.  
To mess with me,  
You must be a brave man.

"Club crescendo, getting loud,  
Run for cover underground.  
What are you doing,  
Showing me no fear?  
You must be crazy,  
Hanging around here.

"I'm a bomb,  
Can you hear me tick?  
Be aware, if you turn me on,  
There is no safety switch.  
I'm a bomb,  
Use only steady hands.  
To mess with me,  
You must be a brave man.

"I'm a bomb,  
I'm a bomb,  
I'm a bomb."

Relieved that the awful tension had been replaced by happy energy from Santana's song, Will didn't hesitate to get the next volunteer to sing. The band looked as relieved as Will felt.

Quinn stayed on the stage when Brittany and Santana went back to their seats. She glowered down at Finn, and he looked away quickly.

Mouse refrained from cringing when she noticed the look that passed between them, and saw Rachel's answering glare at Finn. _Just what had he done now_?

"According to you,  
I'm stupid, I'm useless,  
I can't do anything right.  
According to you,  
I'm difficult, hard to please,  
Forever changing my mind.

"I'm a mess in a dress,  
Can't show up on time,  
Even if it would save my life.  
According to you, according to you.

"But according to him,  
I'm beautiful, incredible,  
He can't get me out of his head.  
According to him,  
I'm funny, irresistible,  
Everything he ever wanted.

"Everything is opposite,  
I don't feel like stopping it,  
So, baby, tell me what I got to lose?  
He's into me for everything I'm not,  
According to you.

"According to you,  
I'm boring, I'm moody,  
And you can't take me anyplace.  
According to you,  
I suck at telling jokes,  
'Cause I always give it away.

"I'm the girl with the worst attention span,  
You're the boy who puts up with that,  
According to you, according to you.

"But according to him,  
I'm beautiful, incredible,  
He can't get me out of his head.  
According to him,  
I'm funny, irresistible,  
Everything he ever wanted.

"Everything is opposite,  
I don't feel like stopping it,  
So, baby, tell me what I got to lose?  
He's into me for everything I'm not,  
According to you.

"I need to feel appreciated,  
Loved not hated.  
Oh, no.  
Why can't you see me through his eyes?  
It's too bad you're making me decide."

To the side, Artie had his electric guitar on and played the riff easily.

"But according to me,  
You're stupid, you're useless,  
You can't do anything right."

_Yep_, Mouse decided, _Quinn was definitely singing this at Finn_.

"But according to him,  
I'm beautiful, incredible,  
He can't get me out of his head.  
According to him,  
I'm funny, irresistible,  
Everything he ever wanted.

"Everything is opposite,  
I don't feel like stopping it,  
Babe, I'll tell you what you got to lose.  
He's into me for everything I'm not,  
According to you, according to you.

"According to you,  
I'm stupid, I'm useless,  
I can't do anything right."

While the song was upbeat, it brought back a lot of the awkward tension that Santana had removed with her song. Will had a sudden desire to bang his head against a wall.

"I'll go next, Schue."

Mouse looked at Puck sharply, wondering why he was offering to sing so suddenly after Quinn's song. He saw her look and just grinned, infuriating and confusing her at the same time. It was even more confusing when the band didn't ready their instruments or set up new sheet songs.

Puck brought out his acoustic guitar, and in the background, the drummer began a single repetitive beat.

"Beauty queen of only eighteen,  
She had some trouble with herself.  
He was always there to help her,  
She always belonged to someone else."

"I drove for miles and miles,  
And wound up at your door.  
I've had you so many times,  
But somehow I want more."

Puck hadn't looked away from Mouse this entire time, and if she wasn't riveted to his gaze, she might have felt uncomfortable at such an intense look.

"I don't mind spending every day,  
Out on your corner in the pouring rain.  
Look for the girl with the broken smile,  
Ask her if she wants to stay a while.

"And she will be loved,  
And she will be loved.

"Tap on my window, knock on my door,  
I want to make you feel beautiful.  
I know I tend to get so insecure,  
Doesn't matter anymore.

"It's not always rainbows and butterflies,  
It's compromise that moves us along.  
My heart is full, and my door's always open,  
You come any time you want."

Puck started walking across the stage, and Mouse followed his every move, watching as he made his way down the stairs.

"I don't mind spending every day,  
Out on your corner in the pouring rain.  
Look for the girl with the broken smile,  
Ask her if she wants to stay a while.

"And she will be loved,  
And she will be loved,  
And she will be loved,  
And she will be loved.

"I know where you hide, alone in your car,  
They're one of the things that make you who you are.  
I know that goodbye means nothing at all,  
Comes back and makes me catch her every time she falls.

"Tap on my window, knock on my door,  
I want to make you feel beautiful."

Standing in front of her, Puck grinned slightly, his eyes still locked on Mouse's. She felt like they were the only two people in the world, never mind the others in the auditorium.

"I don't mind spending every day,  
Out on your corner in the pouring rain.  
Look for the girl with the broken smile,  
Ask her if she wants to stay a while.

"And she will be loved,  
And she will be loved,  
And she will be loved,  
And she will be loved.

"Please don't try so hard to say goodbye,  
Please don't try so hard to say goodbye."

Mouse wondered if it would be inappropriate to kiss Puck until he couldn't breathe. Deciding that she didn't care, she kissed him, her hands against his face to keep him pressed against her. She could feel him grin, his hands resting on her waist. Mike and Matt cheered loudly, and somewhere in the back of her mind, Mouse registered the fact that Kurt had dramatically sank down into a seat, fanning himself.

"All right, that's enough now... Who's next?" Schue asked, although he was relieved that the awful tension had disappeared again.

Pulling away from Puck gently, Mouse didn't think she had enough breath to attempt to sing yet, so she remained silent.

Grinning at them all, Mike headed up to the stage. When she recognised the song, Mouse started clapping in time, grinning broadly.

"Hey...  
It's seventy-two degrees,  
Zero chance of rain,  
It's been a perfect day.  
We're all spinning on our heels,  
So far away from real,  
In Californ-i-a.  
We'll watch the sunset from our car  
We all took it in,  
And by the time that it was dark,  
You and me had something, yeah.

"If this is what we've got,  
Then what we've got is gold.  
We're shining bright,  
And I want you,  
I want you to know.  
The morning's on its' way,  
Our friends all say goodbye.  
There's no where else to go,  
I hope that you'll stay the night.  
Whoa-oh-oh. You'll stay the night.

"We've been singing Billie Jean,  
Mixing vodka with caffeine,  
We've got strangers stopping by.  
And though you're out of tune,  
Girl, you blow my mind, you do,  
And all I say is I don't want to say goodnight.  
If there's no quiet corner,  
To get to know each other.  
Then there's no hurry,  
I'm a patient man, as you'll discover.

"'Cause if this is what we've got,  
Then what we've got is gold.  
We're shining bright,  
And I want you,  
I want you to know.  
The morning's on its' way,  
Our friends all say goodbye.  
There's no where else to go,  
I hope that you'll stay the night.  
Whoa-oh-oh. You'll stay the night.

"Just like the song on the radio said,  
We'll share the shelter of my single bed.  
But it's a different tune that's stuck in my head,  
And it goes...

"If this is what we've got,  
Then what we've got is gold.  
We're shining bright,  
And I want you,  
I want you to know.  
The morning's on its' way,  
Our friends all say goodbye.  
There's no where else to go,  
I hope that you'll stay the night.

"If this is what we've got,  
Then what we've got is gold.  
We're shining bright,  
And I want you,  
I want you to know.  
The morning's on its' way,  
Our friends all say goodbye.  
There's no where else to go,  
I hope that you'll stay the night."

Santana grinned when Mike came down off the stage, kissing him, albeit slightly briefer than Mouse had with Puck.

"Can I go next, Schue?" Tina asked softly.

"Sure, go ahead," he said happily enough, glad that he hadn't had to ask for a volunteer this time.

The band hurried to set up again.

"Well, I woke up this morning, and the night had been so long,  
It seems that I had had my mind on you.  
Well, the day, it has begun, and I can't get a minute,  
Can't get a minute without you.

"'Cause you're always on my mind,  
You're always in my head.  
And I can't live,  
I can't live another day without you."

"'Cause when the minutes seem like hours, and the hours seem like days.  
Then a week goes by, you know it takes my breath away.  
All the minutes in the world could never take your place,  
There's one thousand, four hundred, forty hours in my day."

Will couldn't help but stare for a moment. Shy, quiet Tina had just sung a chorus that usually consisted of _three_ people singing, and she'd done it **loud**.

"I've been trying to call you all day,  
'Cause I've got so many things that I want to say.  
I'm going crazy,  
'Cause all my thoughts are filled with you.  
There's got to be some way I can get through to you."

Mouse briefly wondered if Artie would realise that Tina was singing this song for him.

"'Cause when the minutes seem like hours, and the hours seem like days.  
Then a week goes by, you know it takes my breath away.  
All the minutes in the world, could never take your place.  
There's one thousand, four hundred, forty hours in my day.

"Well, I can't keep myself from thinkin' about you,  
It's because I love you, and I know that it's true.  
I'm call it desperation,  
Can't you see in my eyes?  
That I want to be with you until the sun falls from the sky," Tina said, looking directly at Artie.

"'Cause when the minutes seem like hours and the hours seem like days,  
Then a week goes by, you know it takes my breath away.  
All the minutes in the world could never take your place,  
There's one thousand, four hundred, forty hours in my day."

Tina looked at everyone, indicating with her hands for them to join in.

"'Cause when the minutes seem like hours, and the hours seem like days,  
Then a week goes by, you know it takes my breath away.  
All the minutes in the world could never take your place,  
There's one thousand, four hundred, forty hours in my day!

"'Cause when the minutes seem like hours, and the hours seem like days,  
Then a week goes by, you know it takes my breath away.  
All the minutes in the world could never take your place,  
There's one thousand, four hundred, forty hours in my day!"

Artie started clapping enthusiastically, everyone joining in as Tina took a bow, blushing slightly.

"Excellent work, Tina. I'm proud of you; it's obvious that you've been practising that," Will said, grinning at her broadly.

Shy once more, Tina nodded briefly, still blushing and smiling. When she sat down next to him, Artie took her hand.

Matt took the stage next, and Will settled back, content that the students were starting to get more confidence in themselves.

As the music started playing, Matt began to clap a rhythm along with the drums.

"Too many voices,  
Too many noises,  
Invisible wires keeping us apart.  
So many choices,  
But they're all disappointments,  
And they only seal me away from you.

"Climb into our rubber bubble,  
Let's get into all kinds of trouble..."

"Slide over here, let your hands feel the way,  
There's no better method to communicate.  
Girl, stop your talking, words just get in the way,  
I'll be your man.  
So, baby, come over from the end of the sofa,  
I'll be your man,  
I'll be your man."

As Matt sang the chorus, he slid along the stage, popping and locking his shoulders. Brittany grinned up at him brightly.

"So many faces, staring at their shoelaces.  
When all anyone wants is to be seen.  
So tonight, let's be honest,  
We all want to be wanted,  
And darling, you got me wanting you.

"Everything that I'm trying to say,  
Just sounds like a worn out cliche...

"Slide over here, let your hands feel the way,  
There's no better method to communicate.  
Girl, stop your talking, words just get in the way,  
I'll be your man,  
So, baby, come over from the end of the sofa,  
I'll be your man,  
I'll be your man.

"What are we all looking for?  
Someone we just can't ignore.  
It's real love dripping from my heart,  
You got me tripping,  
What are we all looking for?  
Ooh."

On either side of her, Mouse could feel Puck tapping his foot in time with the music, and Candy bopping his head along happily.

"Slide over here, let your hands feel the way,  
There's no better method to communicate.  
Girl, stop your talking, words just get in the way,  
I'll be your man.

"Slide over here, let your hands feel the way,  
There's no better method to communicate.  
Girl, stop your talking, words just get in the way,  
I'll be your man.  
So, baby, come over from the end of the sofa,  
I'll be your man.

"I'll be your man,  
I'll be your man,  
I'll be your man."

His song finished to applause, and Matt took a bow, grinning broadly. He came off the stage, putting his arm around Brittany's shoulder as she kissed him quickly.

Brittany went up the stairs before anyone else could. She waited somewhat impatiently for Tina and Santana to join her on stage.

"We are the girls,  
And we impress the boys.  
And we make lots of noise,  
'Cause we wanna get down with it.

"We dance in the sun,  
And we have lots of fun.  
But we get straight A's,  
'Cause we wanna be rich."

Mouse was envious of the amount of energy Brittany had. She was dancing, singing, and even jumping in time with her words without seeming to tire.

"All the girls in the class,  
They wanna be like us.  
They wanna follow what we do,  
They wanna be like us.

"I got the boys in my class,  
And they're making a fuss.  
Chewing their gum, falling over,  
When they stare at us.

"We're popular, yes, you know,  
And honey, so can you.  
Just got to follow how we look,  
And do what we do.

"We rule the playground (_Double dutch_!)  
Jump up, jump up, and turn around (_Double dutch_!)  
Get both feet up off the ground,  
See that skirt fly up and down.  
Double dutch (_oh, oh, oh_)  
Double dutch (_duh, duh, duh_)  
Double dutch!

"They wanna talk like us,  
They wanna sit with us.  
They wanna learn all our tricks,  
So they can kiss like us.

"But in this pretty girl school,  
The lessons don't come cheap.  
You gotta work your little ass,  
'Til you got red cheeks!"

Will's eyes went wide when Brittany smacked her behind.

"Because these legs stay thin,  
But not by themselves.  
A little discipline,  
Will give you form like ours.

"Listen, you got dry skin?  
Rub some lotion in.  
You know the secret, girls,  
It's your man's potion."

Tina and Santana began singing, shaking their fingers negatively.

"And by the way,  
Never chew with your mouth open.  
And don't reach across the table,  
And no swallowing.  
Now they're the rules, real simple,  
I've laid it out for you, babe.  
Now excuse me while I find,  
Some other little girl to say..."

Brittany started singing again, her skirt flying up and down in time with her dancing.

"We rule the playground (_Double dutch_!)  
Jump up, jump up, and turn around (_Double dutch_!)  
Get both feet up off the ground,  
See that skirt fly up and down.  
Double dutch (_oh, oh, oh_)  
Double dutch (_duh, duh, duh_)  
Double dutch!

"Double dutch (_oh, oh, oh_)  
Double dutch (_duh, duh, duh_)  
Double dutch!

"We rule the playground (_Double dutch_!)  
Jump up, jump up, and turn around (_Double dutch_!)  
Get both feet up off the ground,  
See that skirt fly up and down.  
Double dutch (_oh, oh, oh_)  
Double dutch (_duh, duh, duh_)  
Double dutch!

"Give me a D,  
Give me a O,  
Give me a U,  
And a B,  
Give me a L,  
And a E.  
Bring the dutch,  
What have we got?

"Double dutch (_oh, oh, oh_)  
Double dutch (_duh, duh, duh_)  
Double dutch!

"Are we gonna be beaten?  
_Ew, no way_!  
Did we come here to show them?  
_Yeah, all the way_!"

There was more applause as she left the stage with Tina and Santana, her chest heaving at the exertion. Matt pulled Brittany down onto his lap, his arms around her.

Artie rolled up onto the stage, giving a high five to the pianist.

"Testing, testing, I'm just suggesting,  
You and I might not be the best thing.  
Exit exit, somehow I guessed it right, right.  
But I still want ya, want ya, don't mean to taunt ya,  
If you leave now I'll come back and haunt ya.  
You remember, return to centre now, now.  
Well, I just wish we could go back,  
One more time, and begin it  
Back before I lost myself somewhere,  
Somewhere in it.

"We've been stuck now, so long,  
Just got the start wrong.  
One more last try,  
I'm gonna get the ending right.  
You can't stop this,  
and I must insist that you,  
Haven't had enough,  
You haven't had enough.

"Start now, so wrong,  
Well you just got the start wrong.  
No more last place,  
You better get your story straight.  
You can't stop this,  
and I must insist that you,  
Haven't had enough,  
You haven't had enough.

"I don't need ya, need ya,  
Don't mean to tease ya.  
If you want me,  
I'll come back and need ya.  
Whisper, whisper,  
You must admit you want it,  
You, you want it.

"Well, I just wish we could go back,  
One more time, and begin it.  
Back before I lost myself somewhere,  
Somewhere in it.

"We've been stuck now, so long,  
Just got the start wrong.  
One more last try,  
I'm gonna get the ending right.  
You can't stop this,  
and I must insist that you,  
Haven't had enough,  
You haven't had enough.  
Start now, so wrong,  
Well you just got the start wrong.  
No more last place,  
You better get your story straight.  
You can't stop this,  
And I must insist that you,  
Haven't had enough,  
You haven't had enough."

From their seats, Mike and Matt both readied themselves for their overlapping parts.

"Don't you need it?  
Don't you want this at all?  
(_Testing, testing, I'm just suggesting_.)  
Don't you need it?  
Don't you want this at all?  
(_Testing, testing, I'm just suggesting._)

"Start now, so long,  
Just got the start wrong.  
One more last try,  
I'm gonna get the ending right.  
You can't stop this,  
And I must insist that you,  
Haven't had enough,  
You haven't had enough.

"Start now, so wrong,  
Well you just got the start wrong,  
No more last place,  
You better get your story straight,  
You can't stop this,  
And I must insist that you,  
Haven't had enough,  
You haven't had enough.

"Testing, testing, I'm just suggesting,  
You and I might just be the best thing."

They all applauded him loudly, Tina going red when he moved to be beside her.

A few moments later, after the remaining few had looked at each other for guidance, Mercedes went up onto the stage. She stood on the centre of the stage, not moving about as others had done, and the band started a softer rhythm than before.

"Am I not pretty enough?  
Is my heart too broken?  
Do I cry too much?  
Am I too outspoken?  
Don't I make you laugh?  
Should I try it harder?  
Why do you see right through me?

"I live, I breathe, I let it rain on me,  
I sleep, I wait, I try hard not to break.  
I crave, I love, I've waited long enough,  
I've tried as hard as I can."

No one made a sound, and not even Candy bopped along to the song. Will sat up a bit straighter, and every one of them watched as Mercedes poured her heart and loneliness into her song.

"Am I not pretty enough?  
Is my heart too broken?  
Do I cry too much?  
Am I too outspoken?  
Don't I make you laugh?  
Should I try it harder?  
Why do you see right through me?

"I laugh, I feel, I make believe it's real,  
I fall, I freeze, I pray down on my knees.  
I hope, I stand, I take it like a man,  
I've tried as hard as I can.

"Am I not pretty enough?  
Is my heart too broken?  
Do I cry too much?  
Am I too outspoken?  
Don't I make you laugh?  
Should I try it harder?  
Why do you see right through me?

"Why do you see, why do you see, why do you see right through me?  
Why do you see, why do you see, why do you see right through me?  
Why do you see, why do you see, why do you see right through me?  
Why do you see, why do you see, why do you see right through me?"

There was a stunned silence as Mercedes finished singing, most of them used to her finishing on a diva-like note rather than the quiet tone she'd just used.

Without a word, Candy stood up and went over to Mercedes, hugging her tightly. She went to move off the stage, but he tugged on her hand gently, keeping Mercedes beside him. Candy gently took the microphone from Mercedes' fingers, and looked at the other Glee members sitting in their seats.

"Be good. Sweet only heard the music a few times," he said quietly, biting his lip nervously.

He smiled at the band, his face so serious and yet innocent at the same time. With a nod in return, they started playing.

"You will notice me,  
I'll be leaving my mark,  
Like initials carved in an old oak tree,  
You wait and see.

"Maybe I'll write like Twain wrote,  
Maybe I'll paint like Van Gogh,  
Cure the common cold, I don't know,  
But I'm ready to start,  
'Cause I know in my heart.

"I wanna do something that matters,  
Say something different,  
Something that sets the whole world on it's ear.  
I wanna do something better,  
With the time I've been given.  
I wanna try to touch a few hearts in this life,  
Leave nothing less than something that says,  
I was here."

In her seat, Mouse was holding Puck's hand tightly. She was surprised at her brother's choice of song, but her surprise didn't last long as she listened to him singing so clearly and intently. It was obvious that Candy meant every single word he was singing.

"I will prove you wrong,  
If you think I'm all talk,  
You're in for a shock,  
'Cause this dream's too strong,  
And before too long.

"Maybe I'll compose symphonies,  
Maybe I'll fight for world peace.  
'Cause I know it's my destiny,  
To leave more than a trace,  
Of myself in this place.

"I wanna do something that matters,  
Say something different,  
Something that sets the whole world on it's ear.  
I wanna do something better,  
With the time I've been given.  
And I wanna try to touch a few hearts in this life,  
Leave nothing less than something that says,  
I was here.

"And I know that I will do more,  
Than just pass through this life.  
I'll leave nothing less than,  
Something that says I was here,  
I was here,  
I was here,  
I was here.

"Wanna do something that matters,  
Something that says I was here.  
Wanna do something that matters,  
Something that says I was here,  
I was here."

Candy stopped singing, and saw the tears in everyone's eyes. His bottom lip trembled, and he was on the verge of tears, wondering if he'd done something wrong.

Mercedes hugged him gently, seeing that he was upset. "That was beautiful, Candy," she murmured.

"Sweet was good?" he asked, pain etched in his voice.

"Better than good," she reassured him, smiling and hugging him again.

Candy clung to her briefly, looking to the others who had started clapping enthusiastically. Mercedes pulled away, clapping as well, her eyes bright with unshed tears. Mouse hurried onto the stage, hugging him and whispering her congratulations in his ear. Candy kissed her cheek quickly, and left the stage with Mercedes.

Looking around, Mouse realised that she'd just volunteered to sing next. Kurt was watching Mercedes sadly and didn't seem to notice that he hadn't sung yet.

Taking the acoustic guitar from the band member, Mouse sat on the edge of the stage and began to strum. Before this week, the most experience she'd had with a guitar was buttons on _Guitar Hero_, so Mouse had spent more time trying to hold the wooden instrument than singing. It was lucky she'd known the song for a while and didn't have to concentrate so hard on the words while practising the guitar.

As she sang now, she looked straight ahead, trying to remember the movement for each chord without looking.

"Oh, it is love, from the first time I set my eyes upon yours,  
Thinking, _oh, is it love_?

"Oh, dear,  
It's been hardly a moment,  
And you are already missed.  
There is a still a bit of your skin,  
That I've yet to have kissed.

"Oh say, _please do not go_,  
But you know, oh, you know that I must.  
Oh say, _I love you so_,  
But you know, oh, you know you can trust.

"We'll be holding hands once again,  
All our broken plans, I will mend,  
I will hold you tight, so you know.

"It is love, from the first time I pressed my hand into yours,  
Thinking, _oh, is it love_?"

She saw Puck's eyes darken even from her place on the stage, and she almost fumbled with the guitar. He grinned at her, and Mouse hurried to concentrate on the song once more.

"Oh, dear,  
It's been hardly three days,  
Yet I'm longing to feel your embrace.  
There are several days,  
Until I can see your sweet face.

"Oh say, wouldn't you like to be,  
Older and married with me?  
I'll say, wouldn't it be nice to know,  
Right now that we'll be?

"Someday, holding hands in the end,  
All our broken plans would have been,  
I will kiss you soft, so you know.

"It is love, from the first time I pressed my lips against yours,  
Thinking, _oh, is it love_?

"Oh, your heart may long, for a love that is more near,  
So, when I'm gone, these words will be here,  
To ease every fear, and dry up every tear, and make it very clear,  
I kiss you and I know.

"It is love from the first time I pressed my lips against yours,  
Thinking, _oh, is it love_?

"Oh, it is love from the first time I pressed my lips against yours,  
Thinking, _oh, is it love_?

"Oh, I kiss you and I know,  
It is love from the first time I pressed my lips against yours,  
Thinking, _oh, is it love_?"

Ignoring everyone's clapping, Puck stood up and walked to the stage. He took Mouse's free hand and pulled her off the edge and into his arms, kissing her passionately. Her face red once more, Mouse couldn't stop from smiling when he pulled away.

"Okay, okay. Enough, get back to your seats now. Kurt, you're up now," Will said, indicating for him to take the stage. The band hurried to set up their instruments and music sheets once more.

"Looks like you've saved the best 'til last," Kurt said, but his voice was flat and not as confident as it usually was.

He looked at Mercedes briefly before he started singing, his eyes looking beyond them as the words fell from his lips.

"I am a question to the world,  
Not an answer to be heard.  
Or a moment that's held in your arms.

"And what do you think you'd ever say?  
I won't listen anyway.  
You don't know me,  
And I'll never be what you want me to be.

"And what do you think you'd understand?  
I'm a boy - no, I'm a man.  
You can't take me and throw me away.

"And how can you learn what's never shown?  
Yeah, you stand here on your own.  
They don't know me, 'cause I'm not here.

"And I want a moment to be real,  
Want to touch things I don't feel,  
Want to hold on, and feel I belong.

"And how can the world want me to change?  
They're the ones that stay the same.  
They don't know me, 'cause I'm not here."

Kurt's voice broke slightly, and Mouse sat up straight when she saw the tears in his eyes. His eyes hardened and he continued singing, oblivious to their looks of concern.

"And you see the things the things they never see,  
All you wanted, I could be,  
Now you know me, and I'm not afraid.

"And I want to tell you who I am,  
Can you help me be a man?  
They can't break me,  
As long as I know who I am.

"And I want a moment to be real,  
Want to touch things I don't feel,  
Want to hold on, and feel I belong.

"And how can the world want me to change?  
They're the ones that stay the same.  
They can't see me, but I'm still here.

"They can't tell me who to be,  
'Cause I'm not what they see.  
Yeah, the world is still sleeping,  
While I keep on dreaming for me.  
And their words are just whispers,  
And lies that I'll never believe.

"And I want a moment to be real,  
Want to touch things I don't feel,  
Want to hold on, and feel I belong.

"And how can you say I never change?  
They're the ones that stay the same.  
I'm the one now, 'cause I'm still here.

"I'm the one, 'cause I'm still here,  
I'm still here,  
I'm still here,  
I'm still here," Kurt sang, his voice becoming quiet as the song finished.

They all applauded him, but Kurt looked as if he didn't notice, and made his way off the stage.

Sensing that the atmosphere was changing once more, Will hurried to hand out sheets with the songs for Regionals for the students to practice.

...

"Rachel!" Mouse called after her as she walked down the corridor.

"Yes, Mouse?" she asked, seeming impatient to leave and annoyed at needing to give Mouse her attention.

"Want to talk about it?"

"I have no idea to what it is you're referring to," Rachel said.

Finn walked past, and both Rachel and Finn looked to opposite sides of the hallway to avoid the other's gaze.

"Yeah, right, sure you don't," Mouse said sarcastically. "Never mind, I was just offering," she said, going to leave.

"Wait," Rachel said, looking hesitant. "I ... I wouldn't mind having someone to talk to, if you're willing to listen."

"Oh, please, after that performance in the auditorium, we're all ready to listen!" Santana said, grinning when Rachel paled slightly.

"If I must," she said with a sigh.

"You must," Mouse said firmly, then turned to Mercedes and Kurt, "and then you two are going to sit down and talk, or so help me, I will duct tape you to chairs until you've sorted out whatever the hell is going on!"

Kurt and Mercedes both looked surprised at her statement, but nodded briefly.

"What's going on?" Puck asked, coming over with Candy, Mike and Matt.

"Girl talk," Mouse said with a smile.

"We've got football practice now; do you want Candy to come with us?" Puck offered, looking at the group of girls and Kurt for a moment.

"That'd be great. I'll come down when we're done," Mouse replied, smiling. "Be good, sweetie. Make sure to stay on the seat, okay?"

Candy nodded, grinning happily. "Bye everyone!" he said, taking Puck's hand and tugged him down the hallway impatiently.

Mike and Matt followed them. Artie looked a bit awkward for a moment, and breathed a sigh of relief when the band members asked him to practise with them. Tina decided to stay with them, making Mouse promise her to tell her everything when they were done.

"Right, let's find someplace that doesn't have an echo when it's empty," Mouse muttered, leading them down the hallway.

…

Rachel looked nervous at all of their gazes on her, but took a deep breath and calmed herself down.

"Finn wanted to get back together with Quinn so he could be part of the baby's life. He didn't consult me about it, or have the common decency to break up with me first, so I broke up with him. Now he thinks that it's **my** fault. But it doesn't matter; I'm going to concentrate on my career, which is what I should have done in the first place."

They all looked to Quinn for confirmation quickly, Kurt perched on the edge of his chair in his excitement for gossip.

"He didn't say anything about getting back together with me, but he did say he wanted to be part of the baby's life. I told him that I was happy with Josh, and I'm taking care of things in regards to the baby. There's no reason for him to do anything; I'm sorting it all out, just like I have from the beginning," Quinn muttered.

As everyone turned their attention back to Rachel, Mouse noticed Quinn checking her watch with a frown.

"Just how _are_ you sorting it all out?" Mouse asked curiously.

Quinn looked up sharply, faltering for a moment. "I … I don't want to say. It's none of your business anyway."

Mouse looked surprised at the hostility in Quinn's voice, but nodded once and returned her attention back to Rachel. One by one, the others returned their attention to Rachel as well, all of them looking hurt at Quinn's statement. They all felt that they'd been there for Quinn in one way or another, and to be put down in such a way hurt all of them.

"If Finn didn't say anything about getting back together with Quinn, only that he wanted to be part of the baby's life, doesn't that mean that he still wants to go out with you?" Mercedes asked, frowning.

Rachel opened and closed her mouth a few times, the possibility not occurring to her before.

"So that means that you can get back with him, right?" Brittany asked, smiling brightly.

"No," Rachel said firmly, yet somehow surprised by her own response. "No. He obviously didn't think it was necessary to talk with me when he decided he wanted to be part of the baby's life, and even if this was just a misunderstanding on my part, or a miscommunication on his, I just do not have the energy to deal with it anymore. I meant it before when I said I was going to concentrate on my career. I need to put myself first again; I never should have let myself move to second place," she said, her face and tone determined.

"All right… So just how are you planning on putting your career first? It's rare that anyone hires high school students around here," Santana pointed out, the irony of her being the only one employed didn't escape her.

"I will just have to keep attending auditions elsewhere in the state. My fathers are very supportive and encouraging of my talent," Rachel replied simply, shrugging in response.

There was a harsh scraping sound, and they all turned to see Quinn standing up.

"I've got an appointment; see you tomorrow," she muttered briefly, leaving before anyone could answer.

They were silent for a few moments after she'd gone, and looked to each other, wondering why Quinn was acting so odd lately.

"Right, you two; your turn," Mouse said, looking at Kurt and Mercedes sternly.

"It's nothing between us; I'm just ... I've just been lonely lately, is all," Mercedes said, her voice soft.

Kurt was silent for a moment, and he took Mercedes' hand beneath the table, squeezing gently. He swallowed briefly and steadied himself for his own admission. "I'm transferring to Dalton Academy."

…

Shelby Corcoran waited patiently for Quinn to leave the school building. She knew that the girl might run late due to her participation in the Glee Club, and simply listened to the radio to distract herself.

Quinn opened the door and slid onto the car seat a few moments later, large sunglasses covering her face.

"You really don't need to wear those glasses, Quinn," Shelby said in amusement as she turned the ignition on.

She didn't reply until the car was out of the carpark.

"I don't want anyone to know that I'm getting in a car with a stranger. My friends are protective and would probably call the police or something."

"That's all well and good, but sweetie, I meant that you don't need the glasses because they make you look ridiculous. And they really don't hide the fact that you're you," Shelby added with a smile.

"What would you suggest then?" Quinn retorted.

Glancing at her passenger briefly, Shelby just smiled and returned her attention to the road.

…

"I'm done now," Quinn said to Shelby as she saw her in the waiting room. She frowned slightly when she saw the bag in Shelby's hand, knowing that the older woman hadn't arrived with it.

"How did it go? Was everything all right?" Shelby asked both Quinn and the doctor.

"Everything was perfectly fine, Ms. Corcoran. The baby is very healthy, and everything looks to be moving smoothly," the doctor assured her, then called on his next patient.

Quinn was silent as Shelby paid for the appointment, and was quiet still as Shelby lead her to the car.

"Is everything all right, Quinn?" Shelby asked as she opened the door for her.

"Pardon?" she asked, as if realising she wasn't alone.

"I asked if everything was all right. You're not having second thoughts, are you?"

"Oh, no. I'm not having second thoughts. This is the best thing for all of us, believe me," she said, a little sour laugh escaping as she looked down at her stomach. "It's just …" she stopped, sighing, and shook her head. "Never mind, I shouldn't be putting any more of my problems on you than I already have… Thank you again for paying for my appointments, by the way," she added.

"Again, you're welcome Quinn. We … we may not be friends, or even close acquaintances, but I have been told that I am a very good listener, and if you want, I can just listen," Shelby offered.

Quinn nodded, but was silent once more. Then, as they were driving along the main road, she began talking. She talked of the baby, of Puck, Finn, Josh, of her friends, cheerleading, Sue Sylvester, her parents, staying with Finn and then Mouse, of being torn between wanting the baby and wanting what was best for the child growing inside her. She had no money, no job prospects at the moment, no future without either of those, and she couldn't bear to put an innocent child through that. She talked of everything that made sense, everything else that didn't make sense, and everything in between. Quinn continued to talk long after the car had stopped, without seeming to realise that they were no longer moving. Sitting beside her, Shelby simply listened, not offering advice or preaching. She waited and listened carefully to everything the emotional young woman said without saying a word in return.

There was silence for what seemed like hours after she'd finally finished talking, and Quinn took the offered bottle of water, drinking gratefully.

Shelby waited until she was sure that Quinn was calm once more, and then handed her the bag she'd had in her possession earlier.

"I'm not going to tell you what to do, because I think that you still need to figure that out for yourself… I saw this in the gift shop, and thought you might like it for the next time you need to get into the car with me," she added, smiling softly.

She didn't ask what she was most longing to know - whether after all of Quinn's admissions, she would still let her adopt the baby - and just smiled when the young girl looked at her in surprise.

Quinn laughed softly when she pulled out a large floppy hat from the bag, her hand resting over her stomach as she continued to laugh.

Thanking Shelby quietly, Quinn got out of the car, the hat in her hand.

She knew that Shelby had wanted an answer, and despite already knowing what the answer was, Quinn hadn't told her yet. She didn't want the older woman to think that she was only making the decision because of a spur of the moment confession.

Quinn was going to let Shelby adopt her baby. She was not ready to be a mother yet, and she didn't want to force a child through a life that they could both come to regret. Shelby, on the other hand, was more than ready to be a mother, and Quinn could give that to her. After her slight breakdown, she knew that Shelby would be a caring mother, a loving mother who would listen to her daughter; a mother who would defend her daughter, even if it meant going against an overbearing father. Shelby would be the mother that Quinn's own mother wouldn't be.

…

_End of the twenty-first chapter._

_Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!_

_The song list for this chapter (as with all previous and future chapters) is posted in my Glee forum_.

...


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee. I do own Mouse, Candy, and Sarah though!

Thank you to those who read the last chapter, and especially to those who reviewed.

...

Chapter Twenty Two

...

"Where has the storm night gone?  
Dark is the day.  
How can I find my way home?  
Home is an empty dream,  
Lost to the night.

"Father, I feel so alone.  
You promised you'd be there,  
Whenever I needed you.  
Whenever I call your name,  
You're not anywhere.

"I'm trying to hold on,  
Just waiting to hear your voice.  
One word, just one word will do,  
To end this nightmare.

"When will the dawning break?  
Oh, endless night.  
Sleepless I dream of the day,  
When you were by my side,  
Guiding my path.

"Father, I can't find the way.  
You promised you'd be there,  
Whenever I needed you.  
Whenever I call your name,  
You're not anywhere.

"I'm trying to hold on,  
Just waiting to hear your voice.  
One word, just a word will do,  
To end this nightmare.

"I know that the night must end,  
And that the sun will rise,  
And that the sun will rise.  
I know that the clouds must clear,  
And that the sun will shine,  
And that the sun will shine.

I know that the night must end,  
And that the sun will rise,  
And that the sun will rise.  
I know that the clouds must clear,  
And that the sun will shine,  
And that the sun will shine…"

Mouse looked to her brother, and saw that Candy's gaze was riveted to the stage. She doubted that he would away from it for the entirety of the show. With a smile, she turned her attention back to the stage too and settled down to enjoy the Lion King show.

...

"I hope you've cleaned the pool for your sister's party," Mouse said to Puck, grinning.

"Already done that. You coming tomorrow? Katie would go nuts if you came," he replied, leaning back onto his bed.

On the other end of the phone, Mouse grinned slightly. "Only Katie? You sure you just don't want to see me in bathers?" she replied, chuckling when he was silent.

"Well, I wouldn't say no to that," Puck said, his voice thick.

"Would Katie mind if I brought Candy along? Mum's got a squash game tomorrow."

Puck took a minute to calm himself, sit up and call out for Katie.

She poked her head into his room. "Mum wants to know why you're yelling across the house instead of getting off your butt."

"I'm on the phone," Puck replied.

"He's on the phone!" Katie yelled back.

"It's called a _mobile_ phone for a reason!"

"All right already!" Puck called, rolling his eyes. "Is it all right if Mouse and Candy come to your party tomorrow?"

"Really? That'd be awesome! Wait… They're bringing a present, right?" Katie asked, frowning slightly.

On the phone, Mouse was laughing at her response. Puck raised it to his ear, confirmed that they would bring a present for her, and shooed Katie out of his room.

...

"_It's my party,_  
_And I'll cry if I want to,_  
_Cry if I want to_!" Katie sang loudly as she ran through the house, laughing.

Puck groaned and pulled his pillow over his head. It was a Saturday morning, and it should be illegal to get out of bed before 10am. Looking at his clock from under his confines, he saw that it was only 7.35 in the morning. "KATIE!"

She giggled when she looked into his room. "It's my birthday, you can't be mad at me!" Katie hurried into his room and tugged on his quilt. "Hurry up and give me my present! Pleeeeease!" she added, laughing again when he swatted at her.

Puck stayed still, waiting for Katie to move closer. Curious at her brother's silence, she moved towards him with a slight frown. She wondered if she'd really made him upset. She squealed when he pulled her onto the bed, tickling her relentlessly.

"So it's your birthday, is it? Well, the birthday monster likes to eat children who wake it before 10! Rawr!" he roared, ticking her more.

Katie laughed until she cried, her eyes bright as she managed to wriggle away. "Bet you can't catch me!" she said, running out of his room quickly.

Shaking his head slightly, Puck ran after her, roaring again.

Their mother was more than surprised when she saw Katie run into the kitchen, Puck chasing her, but just told them to go out to the lounge room and smiled as she continued to cook her daughter's birthday cake.

...

Candy held onto Katie's present and card, crumpling the paper slightly with his grip. He had spent most of the morning decorating the card and writing the words 'Happy birthday Katie' very carefully, his tongue sticking out of his mouth as he concentrated on keeping the words as straight as possible.

By the time they'd finished wrapping the present and making the card, Sarah had already left for her squash game, giving them a bright smile and wave when she'd left the house.

Stepping off the bus Mouse took Candy's free hand and led him up to Puck's house. She was carrying a small bag with their towels. Candy had insisted on bringing his small green bucket, despite Mouse telling him that there was no sand to build castles. He hadn't cared so she'd packed it for him anyway.

"You want to ring the doorbell, sweetie?"

He nodded quickly, pressing the small button with a bright grin. Candy giggled when the chime echoed in the house.

Moments later, Katie opened the door, grinning brightly. She was wearing a swimming costume already, a tiara on her head.

"Happy birthday!" Candy said immediately, holding the present out to her.

"Hi Candy, hi Mouse! Come in," Katie said, taking the offered present happily. "Thanks, I'll put it with the other presents," she said, leading them into the house.

Candy carefully stepped over the threshold, and they both followed Katie to the backyard. Puck was outside with a small crowd of children in front of him as he sang to them.

"I made him play the guitar for everyone," Katie said with an evil grin.

"So when are you all going swimming? Now, or after presents and cake?" Mouse asked.

"When Noah's finished singing. Oh, gotta go. See you later," Katie said, heading over to her waving friends.

Candy followed cautiously. He hadn't met these children before and was shy around strangers. He sat at the edge of the group, and listened happily enough as Puck finished his song.

The moment Puck finished, the group of children hurried over to the pool, laughing to each other. Candy sat on the edge of the pool, watching everyone as they splashed about, grinning.

"You've come to rescue me from the birthday girl?" Puck asked, his arm around Mouse's waist as he kissed her.

"Surely it's not that bad?"

"That's the sixth song I've had to sing since 11 this morning. I was ready to throw them all in the pool," he muttered.

"Oh, hello Jane. How are you?"

"Good thank you, Mrs. Puckerman. How are you?" she asked, smiling at Puck's mother.

"Good, good. Just finishing icing and decorating the cake. Would you both be able to keep an eye on the children while they're in the pool?"

"Sure, Mrs. Puckerman," Mouse said with a smile, leading Puck over to the gated area.

"I was hoping to stay as far away from them as possible," he muttered sourly.

"They'll tire out in an hour, then they'll be so full with cake that they'll probably sleep for the whole afternoon," Mouse said, grinning at him.

"Don't you mean, they'll be hyped out on the sugar and running around screaming?" he muttered.

"That too... Hey, sweetie. You want the bucket?" she asked Candy.

Katie called out for Puck, her friends giggling around her. He sighed and left Mouse to see what his sister wanted.

Candy nodded at Mouse's question, grinning. The moment he had it in his hands, he started scooping water up and pouring it back into the pool, watching the sun shine on the small waterfall.

"Look, Mousie. It's pretty," he said, looking up at her with a bright grin.

"Yes, it is. Want to see something else?" she asked, taking her skirt off and moving to sit beside him in bathing shorts.

She slowly kicked her legs in the water, and showed Candy the ripples that followed her movements. He continued with his small waterfalls, watching the ripples from that as well. A shadow cast over them, and Mouse looked up at Puck with a grin.

"Aren't you getting in the water?" he asked, frowning down at them.

"Nope! Making waterfalls," Candy said, grinning and continuing with his game, the water sliding through his fingers now.

"What did Katie want?" Mouse asked, returning to kicking her legs in the water slowly.

"Her friends decided that they think I'm hot and should take my shirt off for their benefit or something," he muttered in distaste, sitting between Candy and Mouse.

Candy frowned seriously and placed his cool hand on Puck's forehead. "Pucky is only warm," he said decisively and with a shake of his head, he returned to his game quietly.

Mouse grinned at Puck's expression and took his hand in her own, leaning against his shoulder.

An hour and a half later, Mrs. Puckerman announced that lunch was ready. Mouse and Puck went inside to help her (the latter only to get away from the loud and overwhelming children). There was some scrambling to get out of the pool, and a few shouts when the children hurried to get dry.

"Excuse me, Katie?" Candy asked politely as they all headed to the house. He wanted to know if he could sing _happy birthday_ to her at lunch, or just with the cake. It was a very important choice, and he didn't want to make the wrong one.

"_Who_ are _you_?" one of her friends asked, looking at him with an unfriendly expression.

"Yes?" Katie asked him, ignoring her friend.

Candy stepped back and shook his head, the girl's expression making him feel uncomfortable, unwanted and other bad feelings he couldn't name.

Before Katie could say anything, her friends crowded around her and practically pulled her into the house, glaring back at him. Candy followed the other children and sat at the end of the table quietly.

"What's wrong with Candy?" Mouse asked Puck softly as she helped serve the plates of food.

Puck frowned as he looked over at him, seeing that Candy was looking down at the table, instead of bright and happy as he had only moments ago.

"Jane, would be a dear and help with the drinks, please?"

Mouse looked to Puck, quietly asking him to look after Candy. When he nodded, she reluctantly headed into the kitchen to help Mrs. Puckerman.

When her plate of food didn't arrive, Katie looked over at her brother to complain. Then she saw he was looking at Candy, poor Candy who looked so sad and miserable. She felt guilty at letting her friends take her away. She wondered why he'd wanted to talk to her.

"Katie? Hello, I'm _trying_ to talk to you!"

"Oh, sorry, Bianca…" she hurried to say and look at her friend.

"After lunch, I need to get changed and have my hair dried and straightened. I cannot go around looking like a wet rat for the rest of the day!"

"O-okay."

"I'll also need my swimsuit dried before I go home," she said, listing off a few more things that she required.

Seeing that Bianca wasn't paying her any attention - _it wasn't **her** birthday, so Katie didn't know why she was being such a diva_! - Katie looked over to Candy, and was relieved to see that he seemed slightly happier as he ate his lunch, talking to Puck quietly.

"You okay, Candy kid?" Puck asked.

Candy quickly nodded and smiled as he took a bite of his food. He chewed and swallowed before answering. "Okay."

"You sure? You were looking sad before…"

His expression fell, and Candy looked down at his mini sausage rolls. "I ... I was going to ask if sweetie should sing with lunch or only cake," he said hesitantly.

"Who were you asking?" Puck asked with a slightly confused expression.

"The birthday girl," Candy said, giving the title as much importance as he could.

"And Katie didn't answer?"

"No time," he replied.

"No time?" Puck echoed, frowning.

"She was taken away by rats and lizards, like Cinderella," Candy replied, smiling briefly.

"Those girls took her away?" Puck asked, nodding in their direction.

After a moment of hesitation, Candy nodded.

Puck glowered, his jaw set. Katie didn't seem happy, and whichever brat was talking at her didn't seem to notice or care. "I'll be right back."

"Stay with sweetie, Pucky?" Candy asked quietly, his head hung low.

He didn't like these other children. They didn't talk to him, and the girls were mean and made him feel bad. He wanted to stay inside and watch a movie, or draw, or maybe just go home. He wasn't feeling well anymore, and didn't want food either. Candy pushed his food away, looking down, his eyes filling with tears as he tried not to cry.

Puck could see all of the conflicting emotions that Candy was feeling, and wondered if singing would make him happy. He would sing every song just so Candy wouldn't look so upset.

A tear dropped onto the table, and Puck watched as a beat started with the _one-two-three-four_ tears that fell.

"You might make a different song,  
Oh yes, that's right, it's true.  
But that don't make anybody,  
More or less as good as you.

"If you can feel the music,  
That's all you really need.  
To turn this party all the way,  
A good time guaranteed.

"Everybody get up, clap your hands,  
Dancin' to the beat.  
Whatever you do, little darling,  
It's cool, just get up out your seat.

"Wave your flag,  
'Cause everyone plays a part.  
One world united,  
Singing this song, this song of the heart."

Puck stopped his quiet song when he noticed that Candy was smiling brightly once more, his cheeks red from the hastily rubbed away tears.

"Thank you, Pucky. Sweet is good," he said solemnly, hugging him briefly.

"All right. You come to me if those ... rats and lizards are mean again, okay?"

Candy nodded, and started eating his food once more.

...

Katie's eyes went wide as she saw the large chocolate-frosted cake that her mother brought out for her. She grinned as everyone sang _happy birthday_ to her, and blew out the candles.

When the curtains were opened, no one noticed that Puck and Mouse were missing. Katie asked to open her presents before eating the cake, and no one could disagree with the birthday girl.

Candy was excited about Katie opening the present and card from him and Mouse, and went to the lounge room with the other children to wait patiently.

"Puck, we should go back downstairs. They're probably cutting the cake already," Mouse murmured against his lips.

"They'll handle it," he replied, his hands on her waist as he kissed her between his words.

She grinned, agreeing as he continued to kiss her. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, Mouse pulled Puck closer against her body. Her eyes widened in shock as his hands undid her shorts and slipped inside. She pushed him away quickly, and Puck immediately stepped back, his breathing heavy.

"I thought you wanted this?" he asked, trying hard not to make it sound like an accusation.

"I ... I do. But, not ... not yet," Mouse said. She was nervous, embarrassed and terrified all at the same time, but she kept watching him as she continued to explain, "Puck, you've slept with _**a lot**_ of women, and cougars are definitely not known for their discretion. If any of them are like Sue Sylvester, then they could have sexually transmitted diseases, and I ... I don't want to risk that. Even if you've got condoms now, well, what about later when we don't use one?" she added when he went to interrupt.

He closed his mouth and sat on his bed with a sigh, running his hand over his head.

"Are you okay?" she asked hesitantly, worrying at her lip.

Mouse had no idea whether to move closer to him, or just leave.

Puck looked up at her, seeing her worry and fear in her expression. _Fear over what_? he wondered. Standing once more, he moved to her, and pulled her to him gently. He felt her relax as he pressed a light kiss to her lips. "We'll wait... And I'll have a test done, or whatever it is," he added.

Mouse was surprised by his response, but then, she didn't really know **how** she'd expected him to react. They both knew that he'd had sex with a lot of older women, after all.

"Thank you, Noah," she murmured, kissing him gently.

They both pulled away when they heard the sound of screaming and hurried downstairs quickly.

...

_A few minutes earlier_...

Katie opened her presents, gushing over the things she'd received. She received a few CD's and DVD's, a lunchbox, some stuffed animals, store vouchers, money, the book she'd requested from Noah (she'd thank him later, he seemed to have disappeared), a handbag and makeup from Bianca (Katie noticed that her didn't seem overly happy with the gift, but she could have just been grumpy about serving all of the cake by herself now that Mouse was missing too), and then Candy had given her his present and card with barely contained excitement.

"Thanks, Candy," she said, reading the card and grinning at his decorations. A cake with a candle, a birthday present wrapped with a bow, and a bright purple smiley face were all inside the card, and Candy's large writing wishing her a happy birthday. "The card is really nice, did you make it yourself?"

"Yes, sweet made it pretty for Katie," he replied happily, grinning broadly.

Katie smiled back at him and opened the present, not knowing what to expect from the small rectangular package. She saw that it was a cassette tape, and Katie was slightly confused until she saw the neatly written words on the insert.

_The songs from The Little Mermaid, as sung by Candon Franklin_.

Katie looked up at him, speechless for a moment. Candy had only been invited to the part _yesterday_, and yet he must have spent hours doing this for her! She noticed that he did look slightly tired, and Katie was surprised to realise that this was one of the best presents she'd received all morning. She hugged him quickly, unable to put her thanks into words.

"Well? What did you get?"

"Candy made a tape with all of the songs from _The Little Mermaid_ for me," she replied, smiling. "Thank you so much, Candy. It's a wonderful present."

He grinned brightly, and the sun itself seemed dim in comparison.

Beside her, there was a scoff from Bianca. "_The Little Mermaid_? That's the worst movie, like, ever. And making tapes is _illegal_, you should be in trouble," she said, glaring down at Candy in distaste.

Somewhere in her mind, Katie knew that Bianca was just jealous that she had liked Candy's present more, and even that her friend was the daughter of a cougar (whatever that meant) and was used to getting her own way. Bianca was petty and rude, even at school and to the teachers, and no one could do a thing to stop her. Somewhere in her mind, Katie knew that her next actions would probably have bad repercussions, but she didn't care.

"Bianca? You're a rude little bee, and I don't want to be your friend any more," Katie said seriously, and picking up her piece of cake, she smeared it all over Bianca's perfect clothes.

Candy's eyes went wide in shock, and Bianca screamed loud enough to bring Mouse and Puck out of hiding.

Mrs. Puckerman hid her smile - she'd been longing to do something similar since the young girl had arrived and demanded that she should be seated at the head of the table, that her present should be opened first, and that she should be allowed to lick the frosting from the bowl - and moved to separate the children before a food fight or something worse could occur.

Mouse and Puck hurried to sing a song to placate the children and Mrs. Puckerman returned to the kitchen. Slicing off a large piece of cake, she put it in the fridge to proudly give to her daughter later that night.

...

"Mercedes?"

She looked at Mouse quickly, wondering why she was shouting at her.

"I've been trying to get your attention for the last ten minutes. Are you all right?"

Mercedes looked back at Kurt's old locker, and with a sigh, looked away once more. "I'll be fine. Just missing Kurt."

"Don't say that," Mouse said, putting her arm around Mercedes' waist.

"What? That I miss him?" she replied in confusion.

"No, you can say that... Don't say that you **just** miss him. You're degrading your own emotions that way. You can't **just** do something. It's do or do not. You miss Kurt; we all do, and we understand how you're feeling."

Mercedes nodded briefly. "All right... Then I miss Kurt. I miss Kurt a hell of a lot, and I wish he hadn't transferred."

Nodding her understanding, Mouse gently led Mercedes to their next class.

...

"Mousie?" Candy asked seriously at lunch.

"Yeah, sweetie?"

"Are you and Pucky going to make a baby?"

Puck, who had been drinking out of his water bottle, promptly spat it out, almost choking on the liquid. Everyone else seemed to be staring at Candy in their own similar state of shock. Mouse simply swallowed her bite of sandwich, took a small sip of water to clear her throat.

Candy's eyes widened as he watched Terrence smack Puck on the back. "Is Pucky all right? Did sweet hurt him?"

"He's fine, Candy, just surprised. Remember that time you got scared when you were drinking lemonade?" Mouse reminded him.

He screwed his nose up, nodding. "I got bubbles in my nose... Are you going to have a baby, like Quinnie?" he asked, smiling at Quinn and then Mouse.

"Maybe, sweetie."

"And will Pucky be the daddy?"

"I'm not sure; he might be. I'm sure that we would talk about it first, and hopefully plan for a baby if we decided to have one together."

Candy was quiet for a moment, and then nodded solemnly. "Mummy says babies are expensive, and that's why sweetie can't be a baby anymore." Suddenly, Candy smiled brightly, and he looked over at Puck. "Can I name your baby, if you have one with Mousie?"

He didn't know how to respond, had somehow forgotten how to form words, and Puck opened and closed his mouth, trying to think of something. Eventually, he just nodded, still stunned and speechless. Seeming happy enough with that response, Candy returned to his lunch, humming gently.

The rest of lunch was a very quiet affair.

...

When the bell rang, the guys practically dragged Puck away. Mercedes and Mouse walked Candy to his next class, as he was excused from this session of Regionals practice.

"Exactly how does your brother know about the birds and the bees?" Mercedes asked, her eyebrow raised as she and Mouse headed to the auditorium.

"Sarah isn't exactly one for discretion. And besides that, she sat us both down when I turned thirteen, and told us in great and foul detail of how babies are made. Since Candy was only eight years old, he asked a lot of questions. I had to find out what Mum had meant with half of the crude language she used, and explain it in ways that he could understand," she replied, shrugging.

"I can't believe he asked you though! I would have been way too embarrassed to say something like that," Tina said.

"When did you get here?" Mouse asked, not having heard or seen their friend join them.

Tina just grinned and didn't reply.

"It's not that embarrassing," she said, then thought of her embarrassment on the weekend with Puck. "Well, it's something that needs to be talked about, otherwise it could just happen without any warning," Mouse added, thinking of Quinn's unplanned pregnancy.

"So you'd talk to Puck about sex then?"

"I already have... Sort of. He's getting tested for STD's," she said.

"What are STD's?" Brittany asked.

Mouse stopped and turned around to find all of the Glee girls following her. _They could sure as hell be quiet when they wanted to be_! She briefly wondered if Quinn had heard her comment, and if she was offended.

"STD's are the same as STI's," she replied.

Brittany wasn't the only one who looked blank at her explanation. Mouse frowned slightly. _Even Candy knew what STD stood for... But then, as she'd said, their mother had explained it all to them in greater detail than was probably necessary_.

"You've all had _The Talk_ with your parents, right?"

"Yeah, but mine was more along the lines of what sort of benefits you can get by having sex with certain people," Santana said, rolling her eyes.

"I know what has to go where... I think," Mercedes said, slightly red as she shrugged.

"Umm, we'll talk about this later, okay?" Mouse said as Schue walked down the corridor towards them.

"Ready to practice for Regionals?" he asked with a bright and enthusiastic grin.

...

As Mouse stood in front of her friends, she wondered how it had ended up like this. One half of her wanted to disappear entirely, but the other half was adamant that she stay.

"Welcome to the first Sex Ed. class."

She was terrified to say anything else, and Mouse had no idea how to explain this properly. With Candy, she had at least had questions to answer.

"Does anyone have any questions?" she asked hopefully.

There was no answer. It was then that Mouse noticed that everyone looked as nervous as she was.

"You would not believe how nervous I am, standing up here!" she said with a slight grin.

They all laughed softly, looking relieved that they weren't the only nervous ones.

Deciding to do this differently than the usual lecturing of their other classes, Mouse pulled out a notebook from her bag and ripped out some pages. Taking out pens, she handed them out to each of the girls.

"All right. Grab a piece of paper and write your question on it. I'll answer them as I pull them out of ... this bag," she said, pulling the empty rubbish bag out of the bin.

Again, there was no answer, but at least this time, they all took a piece of paper and started writing. They all looked nervous, blushing and embarrassed as they folded their papers and put them in the bag. Taking a deep breath, Mouse pulled out the first piece of paper.

"_What are STD's_?" she read out. "Okay, I can answer that one," she said, more for her own benefit than theirs. "STD stands for Sexually Transmitted Disease. It's the same as STI, which is a Sexually Transmitted Infection. It is a disease or infection, like HIV or Hepatitis, that is passed on to people during sex... Does that make sense?" Mouse asked, hoping that she wasn't just rambling nonsense.

Slowly, they each nodded, and Mouse pulled out the next question.

"_Can you get pregnant from oral sex_? No, you can't, but you can still get STD's from oral sex. In regards to getting pregnant, you need to have sperm in or near your vagina to get pregnant. Which means, yes, the 'pull out before the guy ejaculates' schtick can still get you pregnant."

"What's ejaculate mean?" Brittany asked with a frown.

"It means he's coming," Santana answered.

Before taking another question, Mouse set the bag aside and ripped out more pieces of paper.

"Thanks, Brittany, you've made me think of something..."

Brittany looked pleased at being helpful.

"Since I'm doing this, I'm going to use the proper terms for everything," Mouse continued, writing headings at the top of each page. "I want you to write down words that you know these as…"

Mouse stuck the pages down to the table with sticky tape and watched as they slowly made their way over.

"You mean, write all the slang under the technical terms for everything?" Mercedes asked.

"Exactly. For example, everyone knows breasts are also called boobs. So that's one. Then there's vagina, penis, testicles, ejaculation, homosexual, bisexual, etc. Write down everything you can think of, even if it's crude."

They were hesitant at first, but soon there was laughter and words being called across the room. With some of the words that were being shouted, Mouse was just glad that the door was closed and no one else was in this part of the school.

When they were finished, Mouse collected and looked at the papers and the things they'd wrote. Some of the words were completely foreign to her, others had her stifling her laughter, while some were just plain absurd.

"All right... Now that you know what the words mean, I'm going to use the proper terms when I talk about them. By using the informal words it's like you're trying to cover up your own embarrassment, and if you don't know the technical terms for something, then you'll never take anything about sex seriously."

Her first 'class' ended and Mouse stayed behind to clean the blackboard of the words "Celibacy Club". When that was done, she went to the auditorium to take Candy home.

...

"Would you ask your girlfriend why she's suddenly got _my girlfriend_ so interested in the Celibacy Club?" Matt asked Puck.

"What are you on about?"

"Apparently Mouse restarted the Celibacy Club yesterday after school, and all of the Glee girls are in it, including Brittany," Matt replied, looking annoyed. "Didn't Mouse tell you about it?" he asked, grinning cruelly.

Puck frowned and didn't reply. He wondered if Mouse starting the Celibacy Club again had anything to do with what had happened on the weekend. Deciding to find his girlfriend the moment football practice was over, Puck returned his attention to Coach Beiste for the next game's play.

...

"So ... What's all this about the celibacy club being started again? I thought you hated that thing 'cause it limited the library's books?"

Slightly surprised that Puck had remembered her comment about that, Mouse nodded. "I _don't_ like it. And I haven't started it up again. Well, not properly, at least. The school doesn't have a sexual education class - or at least, not a very good one - and after Candy's comment the other day, everyone found out that I know a lot more about sex than they do. I was sort of volunteered to tell everyone what I know…" she trailed off, seeing the look of relief on his face. "Were you worried that I was going to be celibate until marriage, or something?"

"Or something," Puck muttered in reply.

Taking her hand, he pulled Mouse down to him, kissing her eagerly.

...

"Remind me again why we're here?" Matt muttered, looking at the words 'Celibacy Club' written on the blackboard in distaste.

"Well, you're the one who was so interested in what your girlfriend was doing here, so we're going to find out," Puck replied mockingly.

Matt glared at him, but looked away when the door opened and the rest of the Glee club walked in.

"What are you guys doing here?" Mercedes asked, looking at them with a frown.

"We're here to join the club," Finn replied, although he really had no idea why he had to. He and Rachel weren't him and Rachel anymore...

"You do know that it's not a celibacy club, don't you?" Brittany asked, frowning.

"It's just a front for sex ed," Tina said, blushing slightly.

There were some broad grins exchanged between the guys, making the girls nervous.

"It's fine. Just a bigger audience, that's all... Sit down, and I'll get started," Mouse said, sounding nervous.

None of the girls seemed overly pleased, but they sat down and waited.

"All right, who knows what these are?" Mouse asked, holding up a packet of condoms.

"We know what they are," Matt said, grinning and high-fiving Mike.

"They're condoms," Santana replied, rolling her eyes at the boy's comment.

Mouse took a shopping bag from her school bag and placed it on the counter. She pulled out a few zucchinis and cucumbers.

"Bet you had a few comments about buying those with the condoms, didn't you Mouse?" Matt asked, and most of the guys laughed loudly in response.

The girls rolled their eyes at his comment, and Brittany looked very upset with her boyfriend. Puck repressed his desire to plant his fist in Matt's face.

"Okay, girls. Take a packet each and try to put them on. All of the guys, go into the adjoining room. _Right now_," Mouse said, glaring at them all when they went to say something in response. "You too, Puck," she murmured.

Waiting until they had done as she said, Mouse then closed the door behind them and turned her attention back to the girls.

...

"All of you sit down and shut up," Mouse said sternly as she entered the adjoining room.

The boys had only heard this tone in her voice when she'd been defending Candy, and were quick to go silent.

"Firstly, how _dare_ you embarrass me like that? I am trying my best to teach everyone what I know about this, and you go and throw that back in my face like I'm less than nothing! If you didn't want to come to the club, then you didn't have to. I did **not** force you to be there, and I did **not** force you to stay," she said, her tone still quiet and angry. "If you have a desire to _actually_ learn something and not put your health at risk, or someone else's, then shut up and pay attention."

When she was certain that she did have their attention, Mouse continued talking, "Secondly, I understand that you were nervous. You were nervous and scared, and you tried to hide your own feelings by laughing and putting others down. Don't do that to yourselves, or to others. You can admit that you're nervous. Hell, I was terrified of speaking just to the girls yesterday!" Mouse said with a slight grin. "But I told them that I was nervous, and we all managed to get through it and I came back today. You can admit that you're nervous. You can admit when you're freaking _terrified_. It's not a weakness. It is, however, rude and simply **childish** to put others down to hide your own emotions."

Matt looked ashamed, and kept his gaze on the table in front of him.

"Now that's all over, are you actually interested in this? Like I said, I'm not forcing you to stay," Mouse said, her voice kinder now.

"I think we know most of the stuff. We've all seen _Playboy_," Finn admitted, shrugging.

"All right. So who knows what a prostate is?" she asked, looking at them each in turn.

Puck knew the answer, but only because he'd checked about it after Finn said that his mother was getting hers checked. Going by the looks on the others' faces, Puck guessed that they didn't know what a prostate was.

"So are you staying then?" Mouse asked.

One by one, they nodded.

...

Kurt adjusted his blazer with an uncomfortable frown. He wished he could wear his own clothes, but the school's policy didn't allow it. It was a shame, but he supposed that the scarf would have to do for now.

"Hey, Kurt. Ready yet?" Blaine asked, grinning at him.

"As ready as I'll ever be," he replied with a sigh, turning to face Blaine. His breath caught, as it always seemed to do, and he smiled briefly.

"Come on then. The Warblers won't wait forever."

Closing his locker door, Kurt followed Blaine down the corridor and to his very first practice session with the Warblers.

He wondered how Mercedes and the others were doing, and if they missed him as much as he missed them.

...

"GET OUT!"

"Sorry, Coach," Becky said, leaving Sue's office as fast as she could.

She ran up the hallways and to her class, sobbing into her sleeve.

"Becky? What's wrong?" Mouse asked, holding her shoulders before Becky could run into someone or something.

"Coach ... Coach fired me," she sobbed, her arms wrapped around Mouse tightly.

Mouse gently guided Becky to the teacher's lounge, Candy walking beside her, his face solemn with worry for his friend. When Mrs. Komp saw Becky, she immediately called the young girl's mother. Candy promised to wait with Becky and Mrs. Comp until Becky's mother arrived. When Mrs. Komp nodded and agreed to this, Mouse left to find Sue.

Coming to Sue's office, Mouse found her sitting at her desk, her head in her hands and not seeming to see anything.

"Are you all right?" Mouse asked quietly, knocking on the door.

Sue didn't answer. Frowning, Mouse moved into the office completely and stood next to the Cheerios Coach.

"Ms. Sylvester?" she said, her voice a little louder now.

Still no answer.

"Sue?"

Hearing her name, Sue looked up and at her, but again, didn't seem to be seeing anything properly.

"What's wrong, Sue?" Mouse asked, hoping that she'd respond if she used her name again.

"Jean... It's Jean. She died," Sue murmured.

...

_End of the twenty-second chapter_.

_Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!_

_The song list for this chapter (as with all previous and future chapters) is posted in my Glee forum_.

...


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee. I do own Mouse, Candy and Sarah though.

_Thank you to those who read and reviewed. To those who simply read, I hope you enjoyed the last chapter._

_Read on, oh faithful ones_.

...

Chapter Twenty Three

...

"I miss my sister. Every night at 10 or so, she used to call me on the phone, and when I asked her why, she'd tell me that her body told her... She wanted to hear my voice. I miss my sister. The smell of her shampoo. The way she could always convince me to read her another book. When you love someone like I loved her, they're a part of you; it's like you're attached by this invisible tether and no matter how far away you are, you can always feel them. And now every time I reach for that tether I know there's no one on the other end and I feel like I'm falling into nothingness. Then I remember Jean. I remember a life led with no enemies, no resentments, no regrets, and I'm inspired to get up out of bed and go on. I miss my sister so much it feels like piece of me has been ripped off. Just one more time I want to hold her. Ten more seconds; is that too much to ask? For ten more seconds to hold her? But I can't and I won't, and the only thing keeping me from being swallowed whole by sadness is that Jean would kill me if I did. So for now I'm just going to miss her. I love you Jean. Rest in peace," Sue said, finishing her eulogy for her sister and looking to the white coffin to her side.

There was silence as Sue walked back to her seat, tears in her eyes. When she sat down, Will took her hand in his own, attempting to give her a sympathetic smile.

Standing and making their way next to Jean's coffin, the McKinley High Glee Club waited for Brad the pianist to set up his music sheets. Soon, soft music began playing and they started to sing.

Jane watched Sue carefully, her voice cracking slightly as the video of Jean and Sue began playing. Beside her, Candy was holding her hand, tears in his eyes. They'd both seen Jean at the hospital with Sue, and when she was alone, Jane had often gone to sit with Jean while Candy was in the hospital for another test or appointment.

She'd listened to Jean as she talked about her sister, her voice filled with pride and excitement. Jean had talked about things no one at McKinley High ever saw: Sue playing in the park with her, both when they were young and now when they were older; Jean asking Sue to read to her, simply to hear her voice and be with her for a few more minutes; her excitement at seeing Sue on TV or in the newspaper with her latest championship. Jean spoke of Sue's love and kindness, and it was hard for Mouse not to see her the same way as well.

Tina finished singing, and they all returned to their seats. Candy held Mouse's hand tightly, the tears running down his face now. She hugged him to her, pressing a kiss to his head gently. He sniffed loudly, crying into her shirt and soaking it in seconds. Sue looked ready to do the same.

Rubbing Candy's back lightly, Mouse hoped that he'd be okay. He hadn't experienced death before, and he'd been good friends with Jean. Soon Candy's cries and sniffs quietened, and she looked at her brother to see that he'd exhausted himself to sleep. Beside her, Puck took her hand, his thumb caressing her. She gave a brief smile, returning her attention to Candy.

...

Kurt waited impatiently for Mouse to arrive for her afternoon job. He'd paced about the shop until his dad told him to go inside if he wasn't going to help. He was sitting in the kitchen, tapping his foot along with a song on the radio without really hearing it.

The moment he heard Mouse call out to Burt, Kurt hurried out to the shop to see her. Candy was beside Mouse, looking quiet and far more solemn than Kurt had ever seen him before. He said hello to Burt and Kurt softly, and at Mouse's insistence, he went inside to lie down.

"Is Candy all right?" Burt asked, frowning slightly.

"Not really. He took Jean's death really hard," Mouse replied, sighing as she looked to where her brother had just left.

"Do you want to go home? I'm sure he'll be more comfortable there," Burt offered.

Mouse shook her head briefly. It was Friday, which meant Sarah left work early to get home and prepare for her night of scouring the local pubs and bars for sex. She'd be in no mood to talk with either one of them, and her pre-drinking-drinks would make her crueller than usual.

"I think he just needs to sleep for now. Candy is comfortable anywhere."

Burt didn't look entirely appeased, but nodded and slid back under the car he was working on.

"I just need to borrow Mouse for a minute, Dad!" Kurt called, pulling her inside without giving either one a chance to answer. He didn't stop until they were in his room upstairs and the door was closed behind them.

"What's going on, Kurt? Are you all right?" Mouse asked, frowning slightly

"Fine, fine... Mercedes told me what you're doing."

"What I'm doing?" she echoed, frowning slightly. She had no idea what he was talking about.

"You know... With the sex ed class," he said, his voice turning to a whisper.

"Oh, that. Yeah, what about it?" Mouse asked.

Kurt reddened slightly, and he suddenly felt warmer. "Could... Could you teach me too?" he asked.

Mouse was silent for so long that Kurt looked at her in worry, thinking she was going to laugh or ridicule him for not knowing anything.

"I'll have to read up on some things, but I can definitely try... Has your dad talked to you about sex before?"

Still red, and sure that his temperature was rising through the roof, Kurt shook his head briefly. "I don't think he really knows what to say, or how it works for ... me."

"Okay, that's understandable... I won't be able to do anything tonight, and I'm going out with Puck tomorrow, but I can come over on Sunday, if you like?"

"I'm busy on Sunday," Kurt replied, shaking his head.

"What are you doing?" she asked, smiling.

"Oh, just going to the mall to help Blaine serenade some guy he likes. His name is Jeremiah, and he works at The Gap," he muttered.

"Jeremiah?" Mouse asked, a slight grin on her face.

"Yeah, what's so funny about that?" he asked quizzically.

"Jeremiah was a bullfrog,  
Was a good friend of mine.  
I never understood a single word he said,  
But I helped him drink his wine,  
And he always had some mighty fine wine," Mouse said, finishing with a laugh.

"Oh, good god, I'm not going to be able to keep a straight face on Sunday," Kurt said, covering his face as he laughed.

"So... Helping the guy you like win over another guy? That's going to be tough," Mouse said sympathetically.

Kurt lowered his hands, sighing. "Yeah, and I thought things were going so well after the song we worked on together."

"Do tell," Mouse said, grinning.

"It was a couple days ago. He said he needed help practicing for _Baby, it's cold outside_. Singing with him was just ... amazing," he said with a content sigh.

Outside, a car horn beeped loudly, startling both of them.

"Oh, I've got to get to the shop. I'll come back soon, okay?" Mouse said, hugging him.

"All right. I'll check on Candy and make sure he's okay."

"Thanks, Kurt," she said, smiling and heading downstairs quickly.

Sighing softly, Kurt smoothed down his shirt and headed down to the lounge where Candy was sleeping.

...

_Jeremiah was a bullfrog... No, that was definitely not a good thing to think about_, Kurt thought to himself sternly as he watched Blaine dance and sing his way around The Gap, the rest of the Warblers helping him to win over Jeremiah.

Kurt smiled briefly when Blaine danced past him. He wasn't singing as enthusiastically as he could have, but with the pumped atmosphere in the store, his fellow Glee members didn't notice how soft his voice was.

... _Was a good friend of mine. I never understood a single word he said. But I helped him drink his wine. And he always had some mighty fine wine. The song just wouldn't get out of his head_!

Blaine stopped singing as he reached the counter, dropping a pack of socks in front of Jeremiah with a exhilarated grin. Jeremiah's cheeks were slightly red, but Kurt didn't think it was due to pleasure or excitement. In fact, he almost looked ashamed. Kurt's expression fell slightly when he saw the direction Jeremiah was looking: at his boss of the store. The man looked absolutely murderous, and Kurt winced slightly. He might not like Jeremiah for being the object of Blaine's affection, but he had no desire to see him in trouble at work for being serenaded.

As Blaine and the rest of the Warblers left the store, congratulating each other, encouraging Blaine and telling him that Jeremiah was sure to go out with him that very night, Kurt glanced back to the frizzy-haired boy once more. He was being chastised by a very red-faced employer, and Jeremiah paled ridiculously fast when the man said something in particular. Kurt couldn't see anymore, forced to keep up with the rest of the Warblers, but he had a sinking feeling that whatever had happened to Jeremiah had not been good.

...

Puck refrained from rolling his eyes as his mother started her usual inquisition on his love life. He thought she'd liked Mouse, but it seemed that she really, _really_ wanted a Jewish daughter-in-law. _He really had no idea why it mattered so much to her; his mother wouldn't be the one marrying whoever he proposed to_!

"I think she's a pleasant enough girl, Noah, but you're denying your Jewish heritage. What about a nice Jewish girl instead? Why Jane?" Puck's mother asked, frowning at him.

_She's everything I need that I never knew I wanted,_  
_She's everything I want that I never knew I needed_.

The lyric was a whisper in his head, but he didn't dare repeat it aloud. That would result in too many questions that he really didn't feel like answering.

"Her not being Jewish doesn't bother me, Mum. She's a great person, and it's really none of your business," Puck replied.

His mother looked offended, but eventually returned her attention to her TV show and dinner.

Katie grinned at Puck from her place between them, and he rolled his eyes in return, making her giggle quietly. He continued to pull faces at his sister, turning her soft giggles into loud laughter.

...

"Why do we have to do this? Can't we just photocopy the essay and fill in the blanks for each college?" Kurt groaned, his head flat on the desk.

"That still involves writing," Mercedes replied, flexing her hand and wrist, wincing in pain.

"Yeah, but not as _much_. If I don't get accepted into all of these colleges just for writing these applications, then I have no hope in the educational system of America."

Mouse laughed, biting her tongue to muffle the noise. "Come on, it's not that bad. We'll go buy a shopping cart full of ice packs later."

"We've got frozen vegetables until then," Tina added, bringing in a few packets of vegetables.

Kurt hurried to grab one, groaning in relief when he put it on his sore wrist.

"Where are you applying to, Santana?" Mouse asked.

"Every college that's as far away from here as possible," she muttered, not looking up from her stack of applications.

"Do you think 'having a baby' counts as an extracurricular activity?" Quinn asked, grinning.

"It might if you want to be a doctor or nurse," Brittany said, frowning slightly. "What?" she added when she saw everyone looking at her.

"That's actually really smart, Brit," Santana said.

Brittany smiled brightly, humming to herself as she returned to her applications.

"Just how many colleges are you applying to, Mouse?" Mercedes asked an hour later when she'd finished, yet Mouse was still writing.

"There's a lot more work involved when it's for a scholarship. I need to prove that I have financial hardship, and explain why I should be awarded the scholarship over the hundreds of other people who apply," Mouse muttered, not looking up. "I'm thinking of adding that I'll give five percent of my earnings to the college as a thank you when I'm fully qualified and running the Library of Congress," she said, grinning briefly.

"So, never?" Santana asked, smirking at her.

"Ooh, burn. Quick, give me the frozen vegetables!" Mouse said, laughing.

"Um, slight problem with that. They're not exactly frozen anymore," Kurt said sheepishly, holding up the bag, water dripping from it.

"Do you really think the guys are applying for colleges now, or they're just screwing around?" Tina asked.

There was a moment of silence as everyone looked at each other.

"Screwing around," they chorused.

...

"If you don't put the lightsabers down, I _will_ stab you," Puck said, glaring at his friends.

"You can try," Matt said, smirking at him.

"Do or do not, there is no try," Mike countered, bowing slightly and raising his saber.

They started fighting, and in minutes, Mike was crowing his victory, his saber at Matt's throat.

"All right, guys. We've really got to get this done. Come on," Finn called from his place at the kitchen table.

No one did as he said, and Finn frowned slightly, not used to his leadership being ignored.

"That's it," Puck muttered, frustrated and more than annoyed. He stood up abruptly, his chair scraping along the ground.

Grabbing a wooden spoon from the bench, he started to fight Mike, who hurried to raise his toy lightsaber in response.

"I win, you sit down," Puck said between strikes.

"I win, you keep playing," Mike retorted, grinning, bringing his saber down.

Seeing a shadow on Mike's face, Puck spun around, grabbing the spatula from the bench and holding both of his weapons against Mike and Matt's. The fight grew more earnest, Puck giving as good as he got, but beginning to fail against his two opponents.

A loud ringing made them stop for a moment. Puck winced, realising that it was his phone ringing, and recognising the ringtone as Mouse's.

"I'm not forfeiting," he said, pointing the spoon and spatula at them, moving away and quickly picking up his phone. "Hey, babe."

"Babe?" Mouse echoed in surprise. "Why do I have the feeling you're not doing your college applications?"

"I was, but then Mike and Matt were reenacting Star Wars, and..."

"Which ones?"

"What?" Puck asked, surprised that she wasn't tearing him a new one.

"Which Star Wars? Originals or prequels? If anyone so much as mentions Jar-Jar Binks, you have my permission to beat them with the closest blunt object... _Would you shut up, Santana_?" he heard Mouse hiss, the phone held away from her.

"What's she saying?"

"She's telling me I should dress up as Princess Leia and ... _I'm **not** repeating that. Keep doing your application_," Mouse called. "_I don't care if you've finished; start on Kurt's then_!"

He shut his eyes tightly, trying hard not to imagine Mouse in a slave Leia outfit. He'd imagine it later, when he was alone.

"Originals," Puck managed to finally say. "They're reenacting the originals. I think Matt was trying to be Obi-Wan, and Mike's Darth Vader. I'm Han Solo, so that means I win by default and they have to do their applications."

"Are you just saying you're Han Solo so you get the girl?" Mouse asked, and he could hear her grinning.

"Something like that... Gimme a sec, I think Matt's impersonating Jar-Jar Binks."

Puck glared at Matt, who was actually pulling faces at him, attempting to indicate that he was whipped, gone soft, or even worse, both. Putting the phone down, he smacked Matt with the spatula before he could retaliate, and then pointed to the seat.

"I win, and now you have to do your application. You too, Mike, or I'll get Mouse to put Santana on the phone."

Mike blanched slightly, taking a seat before Matt did.

Picking up the phone again, Puck frowned when he heard Mouse's laughter. "What's so funny?"

"You chose ... Han Solo 'cause ... you've got ... the guns!" she said between gasps of laughter.

He grinned slightly, not knowing whether that was a really bad or really good pick up line. _Maybe it'd be better if she was dressed as Leia_.

"Wait, am I Chewbacca then?" Mouse wondered, still laughing.

"No, you're definitely Leia. Did you call for any reason, or just to check that we were doing our applications?"

"Bit of both. Wanted to know how Candy was going. Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's watching a movie with Katie," Puck said, leaving the kitchen to go look in the living room. He grinned when he saw that Candy and Katie were asleep on the couch, a large bowl of popcorn between them. "They're asleep," he added.

"What were they watching?" she asked in surprise.

"_Happy Feet_, I think," he replied uncertainly.

"Oh, that makes sense. The lullaby puts Candy right to sleep, even for the small amount of time that it's in the movie... _Santana, if you don't stop doing that, I'm going to find the thickest book in this house and hit you with it repeatedly_."

"What's she doing?"

"Drawing on my leg with texta. It tickles, and for goodness sakes! Not you too, Quinn! Santana, if you insist on drawing hearts, at least use our actual initials instead of writing _Mouse_ and _Puck_. You're making my leg into some weird animal/hockey crossover! No, don't draw that now!"

Loud bursts of laughter came through the phone, and there was a moment of silence.

"Puck? Oh, hi," Brittany said cheerfully. "Santana says to tell you that Mouse is our hostage, and we're torturing her with textas... No, I want to draw the unicorn!"

Another moment of prolonged silence, a heavy sigh, and then Kurt was on the other end. "Still there, Puckerman? Good. Just to let you know, Mouse will come back in one piece, but she'll probably be covered in ink from top to bottom. And possibly makeup if we can hold her down long enough... The eyeliner and mascara are in the outside pocket, 'Cedes," he called. "No, the other pocket. Oh, for heck's sakes... Tina, take the phone, would you? _It's this pocket_..."

"Tina, you there?" Puck asked when he didn't hear anything.

"Yes, but I'm just getting my weapon of choice, so you don't have long," Tina cackled. "Oh, that's a _nice_ purple colour. Can we draw on me next?" she called, passing the phone to Rachel.

"Hello, Puck. We're all drawing on Mouse now, but I would like to point out we've finished our applications. With the exception of Kurt, who claims to have injured his wrist... I really don't think he has, or else he wouldn't be able to hold Mouse down like that. Oh, they're saving me a spot to draw. Have an enjoyable afternoon!"

He heard Mouse laughing loudly, and then a shout when she realised what Mercedes and Kurt were doing to her face. The call cut off abruptly, and Puck shook his head, pocketing the phone.

"Everything all right, Puck?" Artie asked, looking out into the hallway.

"Yeah... The girls and Kurt have finished their applications already," he said.

"Really? What are they doing now?" Finn asked, hopeful that they'd come over and help them finish.

"Torturing Mouse with textas by drawing on her," Puck replied with a grin.

"So... What was that about Princess Leia before?" Matt asked, grinning.

"Nothing you want to repeat," he retorted, pushing Matt's head closer to his stack of unfinished applications.

Beside him, Matt just chuckled, and continued with his. He didn't doubt that Puck would call Santana if he took up the lightsaber again.

...

Numerous smiley faces, uneven love hearts, oddly coloured rainbows (_does no one know what Roy G. Biv means_?), bright orange suns and purple moons, and one surprisingly artistic unicorn later, Mouse's legs were finally left alone.

Her face was another matter, with Kurt and Mercedes doing an entire makeover including a bright green eyeliner, black mascara, some shade of lipstick that she was sure wasn't a real colour, and then some weird device that curled her eyelashes. The rest of the afternoon had been spent with an impromptu makeover session with Rachel as their next victim.

Tina's mother had driven them over to Puck's house, a smile on her face every time she looked to her brightly-decorated passengers. When Katie had opened the front door, rubbing sleep from her eyes, she simply stared at them all, unsure if she was still dreaming or not.

The boys had all laughed at them, their stack of applications finally completed. Then, while they were preoccupied with their laughter, Kurt and the girls all brandished their weapons, attacking every free inch of skin they could see. Mouse grinned at Puck, holding up a navy blue texta. He grinned back at her, unbuttoning his shirt.

"So, Han Solo, what do you think I should draw?" she asked, backing him into a corner.

"I think that rainbow looks pretty badass," he said, chuckling.

"Stop laughing, or I'll make Kurt and Mercedes give you a makeover as well," Mouse said, batting her eyelashes.

"You look nice with makeup, but I like you better without it," Puck murmured, his thumb caressing her cheek. "All I can feel is that powder, and I'd rather touch you."

Even through the makeup, Mouse's blush could be seen. "I think I'll draw a heart here," she said, placing a texta over the left side of his chest.

"Feel free to add any Star Wars characters."

"I could probably draw Jabba the Hut. Or a very bad Chewbacca, if you're lucky."

Puck shook his head briefly, his eyes lingering on her legs to see the designs. "Is that a unicorn on your thigh?"

"Brittany likes unicorns. We all got one, but I think mine's the best," Mouse said, grinning.

"Do you have any skin that isn't covered in texta?" he asked, seeing the symbols, words, and small cartoon depictions travelling up her arms.

"Yes, and I'll let you guess where," she replied, humming under her breath as she started doodling along his collarbones.

Puck glanced over her shoulder to see everyone else preoccupied with their own attacks. Mercedes was helping Tina draw on Artie's arms, and he was giving them suggestions amiably enough. Matt and Mike were flat on their backs, Brittany and Santana drawing on their faces, laughing to each other. Quinn and Rachel had Finn stuck on a chair and were working together to draw on his forehead. Kurt wasn't in the room, but he could hear him singing along to the beginning song in Happy Feet with Candy and Katie.

When he was certain that no one was watching, Puck gently slid his hand under Mouse's shirt, feeling her breath catch beneath his touch.

"I think you're still bare _there_, and _here_," he murmured, his hand moving to the small of her back, travelling up her spine slowly.

Mouse stopped drawing for a moment, staring at him with darkened eyes. She kissed him gently, pulling away before they could draw attention to themselves.

"I'll let you decorate me if you want," she said, grinning slightly.

"Today?"

Kissing him again, Mouse nodded briefly, and then returned to her drawing, a smile on her face.

"So, what are you drawing on me anyway?"

"I'm attempting to draw a seascape on your collarbones."

"How's that turning out?" Puck asked with a grin.

"Not good; I'm awful at drawing," she admitted, shrugging. "I can draw stick people, a few flowers, and a house."

"Such a _huge_ portfolio. How are you not a famous artist?"

"Well, what can you draw, Mr. Sarcasm?"

"Probably not much more than that. Maybe a football and a couple of animals if I feel up to it."

"I can draw a MOQ cat," Mouse said, grinning.

He frowned in confusion, and she drew the letters vertically: a small M for a cat's pointed ears, the O for it's face, and the Q for it's lower body and tail.

"I can do a bat too. Basically the M and O, but with wings," she added, drawing the bat hovering above the cat. "Oh, and a snowman... This is fun," Mouse said with a laugh, drawing more basic shapes and announcing their depictions as she continued.

"It's going to be fun getting home on public transport with this," Mercedes said, grinning.

"More like embarrassing, and we're going to be slushied by complete strangers," Matt called from his position on the floor. Brittany had undone his shirt, and was humming to herself as she drew a large unicorn on the middle of his chest.

"You think people just carry slushies around to throw at complete strangers?" Tina asked.

"Well, no. But it could happen."

"Don't worry, they're not permanent textas. We checked," Brittany said, kissing his nose gently.

"Double check now, please," Mike said, his face paling.

Santana rolled her eyes at him, licking her finger and sliding it down one of the pictures, pulling away with a stained finger. "See, nothing to worry about. I'll help you clean it off," she added quietly, winking at him.

Mike grinned up at her. "Like the sound of that. Your folks home?"

"Nope," she said, popping the p with a grin.

In moments, Mike was standing up. "We've gotta go now. Great day, very productive. We should do it again," he called over his shoulder as he left with Santana.

Brittany promised something similar to Matt, and they left moments later. Within ten minutes, Artie's phone began to ring, and he answered, hanging up a few moments later to say that his dad had arrived to take him home. Realising that Tina's mother was still waiting out in the car, Mercedes left with Tina. Kurt and Finn left soon after, going to have dinner with their parents (_once they were clean, of course_, Kurt added, frowning up at the flowers that were blooming on Finn's forehead). Quinn left for a doctor's appointment, wearing a large floppy hat. Rachel's fathers arrived to pick her up soon afterwards, and she left with a smile, calling out goodbye to Candy and Katie in the lounge room.

After putting in a new DVD for their siblings to watch, Puck led Mouse upstairs to his room, closing and locking the door behind them. He kissed her neck, his hands stroking her skin beneath her shirt. After making him turn around, Mouse took off her shirt and lay down on her stomach on his bed, blushing once more.

Puck turned around to see her lying on his bed, and he simply stared for a moment, wanting to remember this moment forever. His fingers caressed her as he undid her bra clasp (_one handed, now that was expertise_) and lowered the straps to better access her shoulder blades. He took the lid off the texta, sitting on her gently and starting to lightly draw on her bare back.

Mouse closed her eyes, surprised at how relaxed she felt, despite being half naked. Puck's bed was very comfortable, and whatever he was drawing actually felt nice on her back, as if she was receiving a feather-light massage. Her eyes began to close within minutes, and soon, Mouse was dozing into a light sleep.

Puck chuckled slightly, continuing to draw. He didn't mind that Mouse had fallen asleep; it just meant she was comfortable being with him, and trusted him not to do something untoward. When he finished his drawing, he got off the bed, waking Mouse in the process.

Blinking slowly, she saw Puck standing beside her, his shirt off and a rainbow over his navel. Mouse felt the air cool on her back, looking over the mattress for her shirt.

"What did you draw on me?" she asked, yawning slightly.

"Stand up and have a look," he said, nodding to the mirror near his wardrobe.

"Close your eyes."

Puck was more than disappointed, but he closed his eyes anyway. Picking up her shirt, she held it to her chest and got off the bed, moving over to the mirror.

"Can I open my eyes now?" Puck asked when there was nothing but silence.

He had no idea if Mouse was even in the room still, but had no desire to be on the receiving end of her right hook if she caught him peeking.

"Okay, open them now," she said, her head still craned to look at the picture on her back.

Puck had drawn a seascape on her, the waves on the shore on her lower back, a sun high on her shoulder blade, and clouds flitting across her spine and right shoulder blade. In the middle, boats were sailing to her ribs, while beneath them, a small school of fish were swimming.

"I thought you said you couldn't draw," Mouse said with a grin, turning to look at him.

He'd been staring at her arms pressed against her breasts, the movement of her stomach as she breathed in and out, her exposed skin pale and getting goosebumps. Her bra was hanging off her body loosely, the two straps in the crooks of her elbows. He moved towards her, kissing her eagerly, his hands on her bare shoulders, moving up to cup her face as she kissed him back, her own hands resting below his ribs.

Puck led her to the bed, his knee rubbing between her legs gently.

"No, Noah. _Wait_," she breathed, pulling away from the kiss.

"I know, I'm not going to. Just... trust me," he murmured, his breathing heavy as well.

Looking at him, Jane nodded briefly, letting him sit her back on the bed. Slowly, Noah moved her arms so her shirt wasn't covering her body, and then removed her bra gently. He kept his eyes on her face the entire time, making sure she was all right. Glancing down, Noah smiled when he saw her body, moving to kneel in front of her, Jane's legs on either side of him.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered, kissing her, his fingers threading into her hair.

She kissed him back, her fingers trailing along his shoulders, moving to hold his biceps. Licking his lips as he pulled away from their kiss, Noah copied her motion, his hands warm against her skin. Jane smiled at him, moving to kiss him once more, her hands cupping his face. He continued to caress and stroke her shoulders until she was relaxed. Slowly, he moved his hands so they rested on her breasts. Noah rested his forehead against Jane's, looking at her as he waited for a reprimand or permission to continue.

"It's okay," she breathed, biting her lip when he cupped her breasts, holding her in his hands.

He smiled, kissing her as he stroked her, his thumbs circling her breasts gently, her body arching to get more of the feeling he was creating within her. Jane pulled him up slightly so she could kiss him properly, Noah's hands firmer against her body.

Somehow, between the breathless kisses, the heady caresses and his hands on her skin, a song started in Jane's mind. It was in the background between everything they were doing, making out and touching each other without letting their hands move below their stomachs.

_When I find out who I am,_  
_I'm gonna know just what to do._  
_When I pull myself together again,_  
_I'm gonna give myself to you._

_Is this forever, this feeling I got,_  
_Not enough, and too much,_  
_So free and so caught up._  
_Something and nothing,_  
_Both at the same time._  
_I'm either out of my head,_  
_Or out of my mind._

_When I find out who I am,_  
_I'm gonna know just what to do._  
_When I pull myself together again,_  
_I'm gonna give myself to you._

_Is this forever, this feeling I got,_  
_That I'm not moving at all._  
_But I just can't stop,_  
_It's like I'm dreaming,_  
_And I'm wide awake too._  
_Will you remember me?_  
_'Cause I won't forget you._

_When I find out who I am,_  
_I'm gonna know just what to do._  
_When I pull myself together again,_  
_I'm gonna give myself to you_.

Noah made himself move away before he went too far. Jane stayed where she was, breathing heavily, moving to hold his hands, her fingers entwined with his. They were both silent, watching each other for a few long minutes.

Sitting up eventually, Jane looked around for her bra and shirt. Grinning at her, Noah held up both pieces of material. He slipped the straps onto her shoulders once more, taking a moment to do up the clasp at the back (_not one handed, but that was ridiculous to attempt anyway_). Kissing her shoulders gently, Noah rested his hand at the small of Jane's back, his free hand trailing her spine.

"We'd better stop now," Jane murmured, her hands stroking his shoulders.

She'd discovered that she really liked touching Noah, his skin and body warm under her hands. Jane knew that if she touched him with just her fingertips, then he'd shiver and goosebumps would follow her fingers.

Sighing, Noah nodded in agreement, and offered her shirt back to her. Slipping it over her head, she smiled at him, taking his hand once more. He helped her stand, and Jane pressed a kiss to his bare chest, right over his heart. Noah wrapped an arm around her body, holding her to him for a moment longer.

"Jane?" he murmured softly. "I love you."

Smiling at him, she pressed a kiss to his lips. "I know."

For a moment, he was too stunned to reply. Then when he saw the cheeky grin on her face, Noah laughed and rested his forehead against hers.

"Very funny, Han Solo."

"I thought so," Jane replied, grinning. Her grin faded slowly, and she kissed him again, her arms around his neck. "I love you too, Noah."

"I know."

...

"You've slept with how many people?" the doctor asked Puck, his eyes wide in surprise.

"Twenty-three. Give or take a few," Puck replied calmly.

It had taken some time to find a doctor whose wife he hadn't slept with. The sexual health clinic was on the edge of town, and this particular doctor was new to Lima, and had no female relations that Puck could have possibly had sex with.

Mouse was waiting in the reception area as a form of moral support, but Puck was wary of the looks some of the men had been giving her as he left with the doctor.

"And this is the first time you've been tested?" the doctor asked, sounding wary now.

"I didn't think to do it before," Puck replied. "I nearly always wore condoms, so I didn't think it was necessary."

"These twenty-three people, were they all women?"

"Yes," he answered with a nod.

The doctor shut his eyes for a moment, telling himself that Puck was a teenager who was probably couldn't pronounce any sexual diseases he did get, and told himself that he'd moved from the city to get away from the drunk assholes who came into the clinic just for free condoms. Unfortunately, that aspect hadn't lessened, but at least it wasn't as often. Although, there was one particular woman who came in almost regularly every week. No matter who was on her arm, she never failed to hit on him, even if he was more interested in checking out the ass of the guy she stumbled in with. (_Not that he did. He was in a very happy relationship with a man who made him very happy as well, and the thought of his partner was usually what made moving to Lima worth it_.)

"Why did you think to get tested now?" he asked in a conversational tone, opening his eyes once more.

"My girlfriend," Puck admitted.

"Then she's obviously a very smart girl," the doctor muttered.

"Yeah, I know," he replied, grinning. "Beautiful and smart, how lucky am I?"

The doctor nodded in response, although he was slightly surprised at his description. Most guys he had in the clinic used words like _hot_ or something involving their body, ass, or breast size to describe their girlfriend of the week.

"How long have you been going out?" he asked as he pressed a needle into Noah's arm, drawing blood.

Puck was silent for a moment, trying to work it out in his head. _Did he start from the time Mouse had asked him out in the nurses office? And did he include those three weeks where he had been stubborn about his presumption of Kent and Mouse, and when he'd gone out with what's-her-name instead? If he did, then they'd been dating for five months, going on six around the same time Regionals were scheduled. If he didn't, and he counted from the time that he and Mouse had been dating afterwards, then it was a bit over a month_.

"Almost six months."

"By the time I get the test results back, you'll be going on almost seven months. You'll keep it in your pants until then?"

Puck nodded reluctantly.

"Okay, there's just the swab tests left. They do hurt, but I'll be as gentle as possible," the doctor promised.

Nervous, Puck nodded, not wanting to reply verbally and have his voice an octave higher. Seeing his nerves, the doctor threw two soft miniature footballs to him.

"They're stress balls; squeeze them as hard as you need," he said, and then instructed him to take his pants and boxers off. "Take a few deep breaths and try to relax."

Puck squeezed his eyes shut, gripping a football in each hand, and tried to breathe deeply. Behind him, the radio was playing, and he concentrated on the song.

"Pretty little thing, yeah, you're pulling on my strings,  
We're breaking all the rules tonight.  
Playing dirty games, don't even know your name,  
I know that this just can't be right.

"Stop calling ca-calling me,  
This isn't what I wanted.  
You're not the one that I need,  
You're such a bad, bad girl.

"Don't look at me that way,  
I can't help it, I want it.  
I'm throwing it all away,  
For such a bad, bad girl.

"Oh-oh-oh, you're such a bad, bad girl,  
Oh-oh-oh, caught in your bad, bad world.  
Oh-oh-oh, why you such a bad, bad girl?  
Oh-oh, I want you bad, bad.

"I just can't ignore you,  
I need you, I want you.  
I'm giving up,  
Give me all you've got tonight."

In the waiting room, Mouse heard Puck cry out in pain. Around her, the men waiting winced in sympathy. Ten minutes later, Puck walked out of the doctor's office with a pale face.

"You're the girlfriend?" the doctor asked, giving her a brief smile.

"Yes... I'm Jane," she replied, looking concerned at the washed out colour of Puck's face.

"He'll be all right, just very tender for a few days. If you experience any discomfort urinating, go straight to the doctors, understood?" He waited until Noah nodded in response before turning back to Jane. "I won't receive the results for another month, so make sure to keep yourselves under control until then."

"Okay, we will," she replied, her cheeks flushed.

The doctor nodded, turning to the waiting room and calling for the next patient.

A few minutes later, after the appointment had been paid for and the next one set up, Mouse and Puck left the clinic.

"Are you all right?" Mouse asked, feeling helpless and anxious.

Puck had a bit more colour in his cheeks with the fresh air, and he shrugged. "Been better, really. Let's just go, I don't want to hang around here anymore than I have to. I swear that doctor was using a metal cotton bud," he groaned, heading over to the car.

...

Burt wasn't comfortable with this at all. When he and his wife had discussed having children, they'd always joked that he'd handle the nappies when they were young, and she'd be the one to tell them about sex when they were older. It hadn't quite worked out like that, of course, but he found that by taking one day at a time, one week, one month, one year at a time, helped him not think too far ahead. By not thinking of the future, Burt could keep the problems at bay until they actually happened, and then he'd sort them out...

Sitting in his garage next to Kurt, facing Jane, (who had brought a stack of books from the library, and pamphlets from the local sexual health clinic), wasn't exactly the way Burt thought he'd be discussing sex with his son. But then, he hadn't wanted to face the problem until it was a problem, which had kept Kurt in the dark about most things when he was younger. _His young face confused, his forehead scrunched up as to why wearing high heels to school was so wrong when they were sensible and looked good on him... Perhaps it was time to rethink his way of facing things, after all_.

"I'm sorry, Dad," Kurt said beside him, his cheeks tinged red. "I just wanted to know, and I thought this would be easier on both of us, because I know you don't really know, and I didn't know what else to do..."

Burt made himself relax his shoulders, and smiled at Kurt, taking his hand in his own. "It's all right, son. This probably is best. I'm not good with explanations myself."

Kurt smiled at him with watery eyes and Burt looked to Jane, nodding for her to begin.

Jane gave them both a reassuring smile, and started to talk about sexual intercourse between two homosexual men. She used the pamphlets she'd picked up from the clinic with Puck to describe how to be safe, and the risks involved, as with any sexual relationship. With the books, bookmarks in each corresponding page, Jane told them the technical names for abbreviations such as GLBT, detailing both positive and impacts of Gay-Straight Alliance clubs in schools, and the technical details of oral and anal sex, trying not to smile when both father and son went bright.

Giving them the pamphlets to read over together or separately, Jane also gave them a book each. For Burt, it was a book of questions and answers about homosexual people called "Is it a choice?". For Kurt, it was a book written from the parents of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender children, and how they handled the news, called "Beyond acceptance". She admitted that she hadn't read either book and was simply going by recommendations on Amazon, as well as what was available in the local library.

"I tried to find something that you'll be able to read individually, and then swap if you think it's useful in any way. There'll be more in those books than I could probably tell you," Jane added.

"Thank you, Jane," Burt said quietly, looking at the book in front of him and opening to the contents page. "I'm sure they'll be very helpful," he added, looking at the list of questions, some that he'd been worried about but had pushed to the back of his mind.

"Thanks," Kurt added with a grateful smile.

"You're welcome. I'll leave you to read, or talk. See you tomorrow."

They said their farewells quietly, both lost in their own thoughts.

Mouse went into the house to get Candy, who was sitting with Finn at the kitchen table, doing his homework to practice writing longer words. Carole smiled at her, thanking her softly for her help. In a few minutes, Candy was packed up and ready to go. Thanking Carole and Finn for looking after him, Mouse led her brother out of the house and down to the bus stop.

...

"Come on guys, Regionals is almost here, and we need to be at the top of our game!" Will said, clapping his hands at the Glee club standing on the stage. "Take it from the top!"

They returned to their starting positions with a groan. Even Candy looked weary, his head hung as he made his way across the stage again.

Will indicated for the band to start again, tapping his feet along with the music as he watched them critically.

Finn stepped forward to start singing.  
"Tonight I'm gonna have myself a real good time,  
I feel alive, and the world, I'll turn it inside out, yeah.  
I'm floating around in ecstasy,  
So..."

As part of the chorus, they all sang together, moving up and down the stairs.  
"Don't stop me now.  
Don't stop me,  
'Cause I'm having a good time,  
Having a good time."

Mike moved to the front of the stage, jumping over Matt who had crouched down.  
"I'm a shooting star leaping through the sky,  
Like a tiger defying the laws of gravity.  
I'm a racing car passing by like Lady Godiva,  
I'm gonna go, go, go there's no stopping me.  
I'm burning through the sky, yeah,  
Two hundred degrees that's why they call me Mr. Fahrenheit.  
I'm travelling at the speed of light,  
I wanna make a supersonic man out of you," the final line sung by all of them before the chorus.

"Don't stop me now,  
I'm having such a good time,  
I'm having a ball.  
Don't stop me now,  
If you wanna have a good time,  
Just give me a call.  
Don't stop me now,  
'Cause I'm having a good time.  
Don't stop me now,  
Yes, I'm having a good time,  
I don't wanna stop at all."

"I'm a rocket ship on my way to Mars,  
On a collision course.  
I am a satellite, I'm out of control.  
I'm a sex machine ready to reload,  
Like an atom bomb about to oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, explode!  
I'm burning through the sky, yeah,  
Two hundred degrees that's why they call me Mr. Fahrenheit.  
I'm travelling at the speed of light,  
I wanna make a supersonic woman of you," Puck sang, the final line sung by all of New Directions.

"Don't stop me, don't stop me, don't stop me, hey, hey, hey!  
Don't stop me, don't stop me, ooh, ooh, ooh. (I like it!)  
Don't stop me, don't stop me,  
Have a good time good time!  
Don't stop me, don't stop me.  
Ohhhhhhh!"

Artie rolled to the front of the stage for the guitar solo, the others spinning into their positions behind him.  
"Ohhhhhhh.  
Burning through the sky, yeah,  
Two hundred degrees that's why they call me Mr. Fahrenheit.  
I'm travelling at the speed of light,  
I wanna make a supersonic man out of you."

At the front once more, Finn began to sing, each 'don't stop me now' sung by the group.  
"Don't stop me now,  
I'm having such a good time,  
I'm having a ball.  
Don't stop me now,  
If you wanna have a good time,  
Just give me a call.  
Don't stop me now,  
'Cause I'm having a good time,  
Don't stop me now,  
Yes, I'm having a good time,  
I don't wanna stop at all."

The final part had everyone swaying as they sung.  
"Da da da da daa da da da,  
Ha da da ha ha ha ha,  
Ha da da da da."

"That was excellent, all of you. Take a five minute break, and we'll work on the solo. We'll do the first dress rehearsal tomorrow," Will said, grinning as they made their way off stage. "Tina, how are you feeling? Ready to do the solo?"

"I'm ready. Really good. Fine. I'm okay," she said quickly.

"Only if you're sure," Will said, his grin fading on seeing how nervous she was.

Tina nodded, attempting to smile and reassure Mr. Schue that she really was fine. _Everyone got a bit nervous before singing in front of a large crowd, didn't they_?

"Would you like to sit with me, Tina? I can tell you how I relax before a big show," Rachel offered with a smile.

"Thanks."

When their five minutes were up, everyone made their way back onto the stage once more, looking a bit more refreshed.

"Try not to step on my toes this time," Quinn hissed at Finn.

"Are 'Cedes' toes still hurting?" Candy asked with a look of guilt.

"They're fine now, Candy," she said, smiling at him. "You're getting better, so that's good."

"Mousie helps sweet dance," he said with a bright smile.

"Everyone in position? Okay, take it from the top!" Will called out, nodding to the band.

Tina stepped forward as the music started, letting the sound wash over her and calm her. Behind her, paired in twos, the others began to dance, a fast-paced waltz that Tina was more than glad she hadn't had to learn. She had two left feet when it came to ballroom dancing.

"If you came to make some trouble,  
Better make it good.  
Your sexy cocktail hour stubble,  
Is doing what it should.  
Looks may be sweet and subtle,  
I think it's trouble, honey,  
I think it's good.  
If you came to make trouble,  
Make me a double, honey,  
I think it's good."

Puck counted his steps in his head, trying to remember when he was supposed to swap partners. In his arms, Mouse just smiled at his look of concentration, and relaxed, listening to Tina singing.

"Novices have expectations,  
'Cause they think they should.  
Experts have their revelations,  
Like they knew they would.  
What may seem complicated,  
Is overstated, downright misunderstood.  
Love will not be outdated,  
Maybe placated but it's got to be good."

Spinning out of Puck's grasp, Mouse swapped with Santana, grinning at Mike as they continued to step through the dance.

"We're so precarious with semantics,  
I think this could be trouble.  
I think it's trouble, honey,  
I think it's good.  
If you came to make trouble,  
Make me a double, honey,  
I think it's good.

"What may seem complicated,  
Is overstated, downright misunderstood.  
Love will not be outdated,  
Maybe placated, but it's got to be good.  
We're far too serious,  
I think we could be,  
Such nefarious pyromantics."

The final spin and swap had Mouse partnered with Finn, and she silently hoped that she wouldn't need an ice pack after this like she had the day before.

"I think this could be trouble,  
I think it's trouble, honey,  
I think it's good.  
If you came to make trouble,  
Make me a double, honey,  
I think it's good."

The song ended on a painful note, Rachel falling onto the stage, holding her foot.

"I'm really sorry, Rachel," Artie said quickly, rolling to be beside her. "Sorry, Tina, but I don't think this can work. I just **can't** do this!" he said in frustration, moving off the stage by the ramp, and leaving the auditorium.

Schue looked stunned for a moment, especially when there were a few echoes of agreement, Quinn glaring at Finn. "But Regionals is only days away!"

"Perhaps we should think of a different song that allows all of us to participate on an equal footing," Rachel said, frowning slightly at her unintended pun.

Looking a little lost, Will simply nodded. "All right, I'll think of something tonight. If you have any suggestions, they'll be more than welcome!" he called as they made their way off the stage.

"Is your foot all right, Rachel?" Mouse asked, looking down at her.

"I should be fine in a minute. It was a surprise, mostly," Rachel replied, seeming embarrassed.

"I'll wait around, just in case. I've got bandages in the nurse's office if you need them," she added, sitting beside her on the stage.

Candy sat down as well, humming the song to himself.

"How did you go with your dancing, sweetie?" Mouse asked, grinning at him.

"Good! I didn't step on any toes!" he replied happily.

"I don't think Rachel believes you. You should show her," she said quickly, standing up and offering Candy her hand.

He giggled, taking her hand and standing. Candy mouthed the steps to himself, leading Mouse around the stage.

Behind them, the band started playing, and Rachel began singing, smiling as she watched brother and sister dancing.

Puck, who had been waiting in the auditorium seats, made his way onto the stage. He tapped Candy's shoulder, grinning at him as he took over, leading Mouse in a dance. Candy sat beside Rachel with a bright smile, and joined in the song.

...

In her office, Sue pushed away her clipboard, the Cheerios new gameplay not even enough to distract her from her thoughts and sorrow. Silence overwhelmed her, and she put her head in the hands, her mind full of thoughts of Jean.

Hearing a noise coming from the gym, Sue hurried to wipe away her tears, coughing briefly and putting up a stern face. School had finished, the gym was closed, and the Cheerios practice had been cancelled for the night. Leaving her office, Sue clenched her hands tightly, intent on blasting whoever had been stupid enough to disturb her peace.

Opening the door to the gym, she stepped inside, and immediately stopped short on seeing the sight before her. Becky, who she'd fired days ago and hadn't seen since, was skipping, the rope flying over and around her quickly with her movements. She jumped each one, a pure look of determination on her face. Going to leave, Sue's shoes made a squeaking noise on the floor, and Becky stopped jumping, her eyes wide.

"I know school's over. Sorry, Coach," she murmured, the rope dropping to her side.

"You shouldn't be ... you don't need to apologise," Sue replied, turning to face Becky once more.

Sue dropped to one knee so that she was eye-to-eye with the young girl before her.

"Are you okay, Coach?"

She nodded in response. "I'd ... I'd like you to be my assistant again," Sue said, hesitant as she continued to watch Becky. "Please," she added.

Becky smiled happily, nodding. "I'd like that too, Coach."

Holding out her arms, Sue gathered Becky in a hug, her eyes closed as she thought of Jean. She'd never be able to hug her sister again, hadn't been able to hold her before she died, but maybe, just maybe, this would make up for a tiny part of it.

"Thank you," Sue whispered, a tear slipping down her cheek.

...

End of the twenty-third chapter.

_Thank you for reading; I hope you enjoyed it_!

_Note_: The book given to Burt is called "Is it a choice? Answers to the most frequently asked questions about gay & lesbian people" by Eric Marcus. The book given to Kurt is called "Beyond acceptance: Parents of lesbians & gays talk about their experiences" by Carolyn Welch Griffin.

...


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee. I do own Mouse, Sarah and Candy though.

_Thank you to those who read and reviewed._

_Read on, oh faithful ones_.

...

Chapter Twenty Four

...

"Excuse me, Mr. Schuester?" Rachel asked before their morning practice began.

He looked up from his seat, trying not to convey his frustration and desperation in his face. Will had been up almost all night, and still hadn't thought of an appropriate song for Regionals. He had no idea what they were going to do, and was already trying to think of ways to convince Figgins to keep Glee club running next year, despite their forfeit or complete defeat this year.

"We all talked last night and knew that you'd over think the song selection for Regionals. Therefore, we all came up with our own ideas to sing. We'd like to run them by you now, and you can choose, or give us your ideas," Rachel offered, smiling briefly.

Will didn't know whether he wanted to cry or just hug all of them until they couldn't breathe.

"All right, that's great. Let's hear your ideas for Regionals. Why don't you sing a small part so I know the song you're talking about?"

Most of them looked a bit nervous at having to sing without the band knowing the music, but Candy smiled brightly and put his hand up.

"Can sweet sing first?"

Everyone immediately agreed unanimously, and hurried to take their seats before Candy could change his mind.

Standing on the stage, Candy tried to click, frowning slightly when his fingers didn't cooperate. Clicking her fingers, Mouse grinned slightly when everyone joined in quickly. He grinned happily, waiting a moment before starting to sing.

"You ask me over, and over, and over,  
Have you seen my peacock-feathered hat?  
If it was under a four-leaf clover,  
I'd be on the lawn looking for that.

"Where is your heart at?  
Nobody knows that,  
Even though you've him, her, me," he pointed to Puck, Rachel and himself,  
And an army searching!" he sang, his hands spread as he indicated all of them.

Candy stopped singing, looking to Mr. Schue with a slight frown. "Is that small enough?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yes, thank you. That was great, Candy. Why don't we listen to all of the songs before deciding?" Will said, smiling at the young boy.

He nodded, smiling once more and going to sit down amidst their applause.

"All right, who wants to go next?"

There was a moment of hesitation, and surprising Will, it was Tina who put up her hand next. He clapped quickly, the others joining in as she made her way onto the stage.

"Some people talk about ya,  
Like they know all about ya.  
When you get down, they doubt ya,  
And when you tippin' on the scene.  
Yeah, they talkin' bout it,  
'Cause they can't tip on the scene.  
When you talkin' 'bout it,  
T-t-talkin' 'bout it."

Tina was making her way across the stage, dancing as if she were on a tightrope, her arms balanced as she made exaggerated movements.

"When you get elevated,  
They love it or they hate it.  
You dance up all them haters,  
Keepin' it funky on the scene.  
While they jumpin' 'round ya,  
They're trying to take all your dreams,  
But you can't allow it.

"'Cause baby, whether you're high or low,  
Whether you're high or low,  
You got to tip on the tightrope,  
T-t-tightrope.  
Baby, whether you're high or low,  
Baby, whether you're high or low,  
You got to tip on the tightrope,  
Now, let me see you do the tightrope,  
And I'm still tippin' in it."

Applause broke out, Mike and Artie leading it, the former for her dance moves, and the latter for her singing. Blushing slightly, Tina bowed quickly with a broad grin on her face.

"All right, very good, Tina... Quinn, how about you go next?" Will volunteered for her, smiling as he indicated to the stage.

She managed to stand with some help, making her way up to the stage slowly. Her entire body felt ridiculously big, her stomach heavy as lead, and her back was killing her. She wasn't sure that she'd make Regionals, but didn't want to voice that concern. Quinn was fairly certain that Mr. Schuester might have a heart attack.

Taking a deep breath, she rested her hand on her stomach, hoping to calm the baby inside.

"Walks in to the room,  
Feels like a big balloon.  
I said, _hey girls, you are beautiful_,  
Diet coke, and a pizza please,  
Diet coke, I'm on my knees,  
Screaming _big girl, you are beautiful_!

"You take your skinny girl,  
I feel like I'm gonna die.  
'Cause a real woman,  
Needs a real man, here's why...

"You take your girl,  
And multiply her by four.  
Now a whole lotta woman,  
Needs a whole lot more," she finished singing, laughing to herself, and looking on the verge of tears at the same time.

The applause that followed was hesitant, getting louder when Quinn didn't burst into tears. Shaking her head with a grin, she made her way down to the seats once more, extremely grateful for the ramp.

"Are you okay?" Mouse asked quietly, frowning briefly.

"Fine," she replied with a nod. "Perfectly fine."

Mouse didn't look convinced, but Will called on her next. Giving Quinn another small frown of concern, she made her way up to the stage.

"I think I finally found,  
A note to make you understand.  
If you can hit it,  
Sing along and take me by the hand.  
Just keep me stuck inside your head,  
Like your favourite tune.  
You know my heart's a stereo,  
That only plays for you.

"My heart's a stereo,  
It beats for you, so listen close,  
Hear my thoughts in every no-o-ote.

"Make me your radio,  
And turn me up when you feel low.  
This melody was meant for you,  
To sing along to my stereo.

"I only pray you'll never leave me behind,  
'Cause good music can be so hard to find.  
I take your head and hold it closer to mine,  
Thought love was dead, and now you're changing my mind!"

Grinning at their applause, she took a quick bow, trying to catch her breath.

"I'll go next, Mr. Schue," Artie offered, going up the ramp to the stage.

"All right. Thanks for volunteering, Artie," he replied quickly.

Mouse sat next to Quinn, her eyes flicking to her in concern once more. Quinn pretended that she couldn't see her and kept her gaze on Artie.

"I could be in love,  
But I just don't know (don't know, girl).  
Baby, one thing is for certain,  
Whatever you do is working.  
Other girls don't matter in your presence,  
Can't do what you do.  
There's a million girls around,  
But I don't see no one but you.

"Girl, you're so one in a million,  
You are - baby, you're the best I ever had,  
Best I ever had.  
And I'm certain that,  
There ain't nothing better,  
No, there ain't nothing better than this."

Artie returned to his seat by Tina, and Matt and Mike stood, saying that they'd go next.

"I've paid my dues, time after time,  
I've done my sentence, but committed no crime.  
And bad mistakes, I've made a few,  
I've had my share of sand kicked in my face,  
But I've come through."

Everyone started to quietly sing along with them, grinning at each other when Mike and Matt encouraged them all to sing louder.

"We are the champions, my friends,  
And we'll keep on fighting 'til the end.  
We are the champions,  
We are the champions.  
No time for losers,  
'Cause we are the champions,  
Of the world!"

Watching as they laughed and clapped, Will wondered if they'd just found their song for Regionals.

"All right, Rachel, Puck, Finn, Santana, and Brittany are left. Who wants to go next?" Will asked, grinning broadly.

"I will, if you don't mind?" Rachel asked the other four.

"Go for it," Santana said quickly, not particularly wanting to sing after that song.

"Fine by us," Puck said, nodding.

With a smile, Rachel stood and went up to the stage.

"People,  
People who need people,  
Are the luckiest people in the world.  
We're children, needing other children,  
And yet letting a grownup pride.  
Hide all the need inside,  
Acting more like children than children.

"Lovers are very special people,  
They're the luckiest people in the world.  
With one person one very special person,  
A feeling deep in your soul.  
Says you were half now you're whole.  
No more hunger and thirst,  
But first be a person who needs people.  
People who need people,  
Are the luckiest people in the world."

Applause echoed loudly in the auditorium, and Puck nudged Finn, nodding to the stage.

"We'll go next," Puck offered.

"Great, thanks!" Will said quickly, glad that they were getting into the rhythm of volunteering again.

Puck and Finn sat on the edge of stage, tapping out a rhythm on their legs. They sang the lines together, alternating between their rhythms.

"Hey, see it my way,  
If we all had a dream,  
We could bust this place,  
And we could take it down,  
Like a runaway train.  
I bet you could make me smile,  
Like I'm going insane.  
So pick your style,  
And pick your place.  
And we can burn like the summer,  
With amazing grace.  
Gonna win now,  
Cause I know you are.  
You are my one true love,  
And you got me this far.

"Always a winner,  
Yeah, you're always a winner for me.  
Always a winner,  
Yeah, you're always a winner for me."

Santana sighed heavily when Brittany stood up before the applause for Puck and Finn had even finished. She took her friend's hand and followed her onto the stage, a tie in her free hand.

"We just heard this on the radio, and couldn't think of anything else," Brittany admitted, grinning briefly.

"That's fine. Anything is better than nothing. Go ahead!" Will said encouragingly.

Santana stepped forward, adjusting the tie she put on with a smirk and starting to sing.

"The D.A. is dressed to the nines,  
In the mirror, he practices all his lines,  
To his closing argument, twelve hearts beat in favour,  
I'm guessing that he read the morning paper,  
The headline reads "The man hangs", but the jury doesn't."

Brittany took a deep breath, stepping forward as Santana stepped back.

"When everyone's looking for relief,  
United States versus disbelief.  
Mothers cast tears on both sides of the aisle,  
Clear your throat, and face the world.  
The verdict falls like bachelors for bad luck girls,  
Only breathing with the aid of denial."

Grinning at each other briefly, Brittany and Santana stepped forward, singing together.

"Case open, and case shut,  
But you could pay to close it like a casket.  
Baby boy can't lift his headache head,  
Isn't it tragic?"

"He glances at his peers sitting seven to twelve,  
Stacked on one to six, the gallery is hushed.  
Boys in three-pieces dream of grandstanding and bravado,  
The city sleeps in a cell, notwithstanding what we all know.  
Hang on a rope, or bated breath,  
Whichever you prefer."

Everyone began to applaud before they'd even finished singing. Their routine made it obvious they hadn't simply heard it on the radio that morning. Will sighed slightly. He could imagine them singing the song so well - all dressed in suits and the lead singer acting out the lyrics - but he'd need more singers than the twelve that the Glee club currently had. With Kurt leaving, they'd barely scraped through to be able to compete in Regionals. Maybe he should hold last-minute auditions for back up singers.

"Okay, let's put it to a vote," Will said, turning over a sheet of music to tally the results. "We need one group song, and one individual. We'll work out who sings the individual song once we have the song in question," he added, though he did note the look of disappointment on Tina's face.

"Wait, Mr. Schue. What song did you think of?" Mercedes asked with a slight frown. "It could be better than anything we've suggested."

Will faltered for a moment. He hadn't thought of a song, and yet, they'd all thought of something to sing. Licking his lips briefly, he said the first thing that came to mind.

"I thought of writing an original song. A group effort, something you could all contribute to in some way," he added quickly.

There was a moment of stunned surprise, but Will noticed that they all looked interested at the idea, at least.

The bell rang loudly, stopping anything they could have said, and delaying the vote until that afternoon after school.

"Don't forget, we're meeting in the auditorium this afternoon, not the choir room!" Will called as they hurried to leave with their bags.

...

"Hey guys, we're all eating here today," Mouse called, waving the footballers over to the table that she and the rest of the Glee members were sitting at.

"It's kind of small to fit all of us, isn't it?" Terrence asked, sitting in the seat Candy pulled him down onto.

"You're right. We'd better make some room then," she replied.

Without warning, most of the Glee club and footballers left the table, leaving Terrence, Mercedes, Artie and Tina seated around the small table.

"Terrence, this is Mercedes. She enjoys singing, has three brothers, and wants to be the next Beyonce. Mercedes, Terrence likes football, is good with kids, and while reluctant, can sing fairly well... See you later," Mouse said, grinning.

Mercedes blushed slightly as she realised that this was Mouse's solution to her boyfriend dilemma. Within moments, the four were left alone. Next to Mercedes, Tina was blushing as well.

"Do you have the feeling we've just been tricked into something?" Artie muttered to Terrence.

"Exactly what I'm feeling," he agreed. "Would you care to tell us what's going on?" he asked, looking at Mercedes.

"Hell to the no," she muttered, playing with her food and not looking up.

Terrence frowned slightly, glancing over his shoulder to glare at Mouse and the rest of his team. Instead, he saw Candy a few tables down, watching them with a bright and eager smile. He sighed softly, returning his attention to Mercedes again.

"So, you have three brothers? Are they older or younger?" he asked.

Surprised at his question, Mercedes looked up at Terrence. He didn't seem to hate her for being tricked into this, at the very least.

"I have two older brothers and one younger," she replied, continuing when he looked interested. "My eldest brother is graduating from college at the end of the year, while my second eldest brother is travelling around the country before going to college next year, and my younger brother is still in middle school. Do you have any siblings?"

"Older sister. She's studying to be a politician."

Beside them, Artie and Tina were talking quietly.

"You didn't have to set this all up, you know," Artie said, grinning briefly. "I was going to ask you out after Regionals."

"You were?" Tina asked in surprise.

"Yeah, I thought you might be too busy with practicing for Glee to say yes if I asked you sooner," he admitted.

"I would've said yes, no matter when you asked," she replied with a grin.

Artie chuckled softly. "Should have asked sooner then... Will you go out with me, Tina?"

Tina nodded happily. "Definitely."

Mercedes was surprised at how well her conversation with Terrence was going. It seemed that talking about their family had been a good way to start, and now he was talking about politics, his eyes lighting up in the same way her own did when talking about music.

"So what sort of music do you like?" she asked.

"Jazz and blues, mostly. I don't listen to a lot of ... current music," Terrence admitted.

"You've heard of Beyonce though, right?"

"Yes," he replied with a grin. "We danced to Single Ladies to win our first game of the season, and Candy sings a lot of her songs while we play football at lunch."

The bell rang loudly, startling Mercedes. Tina and Artie left the cafeteria, Tina pushing his wheelchair and laughing at something he'd said.

"Would you like to continue this conversation at another time? Maybe at BreadstiX?" she asked hesitantly as Terrence stood up.

"Yeah, I'd like that," Terrence replied, smiling at her. "How about we go out after Regionals are finished? I know what a big thing that is for everyone in the Glee club."

"Just as big as a championship game," Mercedes said. "Will you be at Regionals?" she asked as she walked out of the cafeteria beside him.

"Already got my ticket," he said with a nod. "Couldn't let the team's mascot perform and not be there to support him," Terrence said, chuckling. "I'd like to see you sing too," he added, looking to her.

"I'd like that too," Mercedes said with a bright smile.

Terrence stopped, seeming stunned. Worried that she'd said something wrong, Mercedes stopped beside him, frowning briefly.

"Are you all right?"

"Oh, yeah, fine," he said quickly, looking embarrassed. "You have a really great smile; you should smile more often," Terrence said.

Surprised at his admission, Mercedes smiled again, even brighter than before.

...

"All right, you pansies. You've warmed up enough! Get off the floor and start running. Q, you sit on the bleachers and heckle," Sue said to Quinn.

She nodded, moving to the bench to watch her classmates run around the gym.

"Come on, pick up the pace! Whoever doesn't finish three laps in the next three minutes will be proclaimed Loser of the Year, and have to wear my megaphone as a hat!" Sue yelled.

_Loser, loser, loser_... The words followed Mouse, mocking and taunting her with each footfall.

"Can I just give up and wear the hat now?" Tina asked beside her, panting heavily.

"Oh, come on. You've got a date with Artie, you should be floating on clouds or something," Puck said as he jogged past them.

"I've got a date, not wings on my feet!" she called.

"You can't wear the megaphone as a hat anyway, Tina. I'm taking that title for myself. It'll be the first time I've won anything," Mouse said, sniffing dramatically as she tried to keep up her jog.

"Come on, Jane, come on Tina! Haul those asses," Mike said with a laugh, going past them.

"Don't look at their asses, you ass!" Santana muttered, whacking him on the arm as she passed him.

"Where's Mercedes?" Brittany asked, catching up to Santana easily.

These laps were nothing to them; Sue had the Cheerios run twenty laps before and after practice.

"She's running like the hounds of Hell are after her," Finn said, looking to the girl ahead as he went past Mouse and Tina.

They were left alone as the rest of the class passed them quickly. Mouse decided that she was unfit and if the zombies ever rose, she would be the first to go.

"Think we can both wear the megaphone?" Tina asked, puffing.

"Sure, why not? I'll wear it for ten minutes, and then you can wear it for the next ten."

"Come on, losers! Run faster!" Sue yelled.

Most of the class had finished three laps and were waiting for the stragglers - Mouse and Tina were two of five. Four, Mouse corrected silently as Mercedes finished her final lap, sinking onto the bleacher next to Quinn tiredly.

"I really don't know why I picked P.E. for my senior year," Tina muttered.

"Because it doesn't have an exam?" Mouse asked with a grin, continuing her jogging pace.

"That's probably why," she agreed.

"Last lap, losers!"

"Loser, loser, loser, loser," Mouse began to chant with her steps, Tina joining in with a laugh.

They finished their final lap in two minutes, their steps getting faster as their chant became faster.

"All right. Now that you've all finished, you can do sprints. Come on, up, up, up!" Sue yelled through the megaphone.

"Ms. Sylvester?" Mouse asked, trying to calm her racing heart.

"What?"

"We'd like to wear the megaphone now," she said, grinning.

"Like I'd let my precious megaphone go near the likes of you. Get to the line, Franklin. You too, Asian girl," she shooed at both of them.

"Hey, she didn't call me Emo Wannabe this time," Tina said in surprise.

"You prefer Asian girl?"

"Not really, but it's better than Emo Wannabe."

"Wannabe Loser?"

"I don't think anyone wants to be a loser."

"Especially not a loser like me?" Mouse asked, laughing.

Tina frowned slightly, humming their earlier chant. "Wanna be a loser like me... It could be a line of a song, you know."

"Are you two all right?" Rachel asked, looking to them in concern. "You took a long time to run the laps around the gym, and I'm worried you might pass out during sprints."

"We'll be okay," Mouse said with a slight grin. "We're trying to think of a song to write for Regionals."

"Oh, really? Do you have anything so far?" Rachel asked, smiling.

"You wanna be a loser like me," Tina sang quietly.

Rachel looked to Sue, who was yelling at Santana and Brittany, and nodded briefly. "I can see where that came from. I like it though. I was going to raise the concern of some other songs referring to us as champions and winners because, as we all get told on a daily basis, we definitely aren't champions nor winners," she said with a sigh. "Do you mind if I join you to work on the lyrics further?"

"We can't run as fast as you, you'll probably be yelled at," Tina pointed out.

"I have a feeling that due to my involvement in the Glee club, I'd be yelled at either way, so I might as well spend my time productively."

The whistle blew loudly, and they started to run from one end of the gym to the other.

"You wanna be a loser like me," Mouse sang in time with her jogging.

"You can put me down, but one day you'll see," Rachel added, keeping up the leisurely pace to focus on her singing.

"You wanna be a loser like me," Tina repeated.

"Any reason you're not running?" Puck asked as he slowed down to jog beside Mouse.

"We're thinking of a song for Regionals," she replied, grinning.

"How's it going?"

"We have two possible lines so far," Mouse said, nodding to Rachel and Tina.

They sang the lines for him, Puck grinning as they passed by Sue, who did not look impressed at their slow pace.

"Come on, people! This isn't that hard! You want hard, try living with gangrene! That's hard!"

"Doesn't gangrene result in a loss of limbs?" Rachel asked with a frown.

"I think that's only if it's left untreated... But I'm not a doctor, so I really have no idea," Mouse replied, shrugging.

"See you on the next sprint," Puck said, catching up to Mike and Matt.

"So, thought of anymore for the song?"

"Something about shaking off the pain, maybe?" Rachel suggested.

"Yeah, no one really wants to be called a loser."

"Come on, girls, run a bit faster. I can't watch you run if you don't run," Jacob said, jogging to stay beside them. He glanced down at their breasts, leering when they caught him staring.

"One day, Israel, I'm going to be your boss. And then I will fire you in the most humiliating way possible," Mouse said with a glare. "Now get going, or I'll shove Ms. Sylvester's megaphone down your throat."

"Such a kind temperament from someone who wants to work with kids all day," he sneered at her, running ahead now.

"I'm kind to people who aren't creeps!" she called after him, ignoring the looks she received from people passing her.

"Oh, I like that song," Tina commented, grinning.

"Radiohead are good," Mouse agreed with a nod.

"What do you think of adding that part about being his boss? One day, I'll be your boss," Rachel murmured, a lilt to her voice.

"I'll shake it off, one day I'll be your boss," Tina said, incorporating Rachel's earlier line.

"That works for me," Mouse said, grinning.

"Hey, girls. You might want to run a bit faster. Sylvester's talking about shoving megaphones down throats," Finn warned as he passed them.

"It's scary that you thought of the same threat as Sue Sylvester," Tina commented to Mouse, even as they obligingly jogged faster.

"Would it be better or worse if she thought of the same threat as me?"

"Worse," Rachel and Tina chorused immediately.

"Mouse, why is Jacob spreading rumours about you?" Puck asked, jogging beside her once more.

"He was being a creep," she replied. "What sort of rumours?"

"The kind that result in him getting beaten up. Or thrown in a dumpster. Maybe both. Just how creepy was he being?"

"He said he wanted to watch us run, and he stared at our breasts, and leered. It was creepier than his usual creepiness," Tina added, shuddering.

"Hey, Matt, Mike. Would you throw Jacob in a bin or beat him up if he stared at your girls' breasts and was being all creepy?"

"Does this **really** need to be a group discussion?" Mouse asked.

"It depends how long he was staring and just how creepy he was. I mean, he's creepy enough already, how much worse can he get?"

"I agree with the first part of what Mike said, but people can always get creepier. And it also depends on how much of the jealous boyfriend you want to come off as. You don't want people to be scared to talk to Mouse just in case you might beat them to a pulp," Matt said.

"So, dumpster only?" Puck asked.

"He was staring at all of us, not just Mouse," Tina added helpfully.

"How about you let this one slide? It's almost the end of the year, and you don't want something to go on your school record just in time to make you look bad for college," Mouse said.

"Q, I can't hear you heckling!" Sue called.

Grinning briefly, Quinn looked at the small group that had originally started with Mouse, Tina and Rachel. "Come on guys, I can run faster than you!"

"I'd like to see you try," Mike called over his shoulder as they passed by her.

"Move it!" Sue yelled so loudly that the megaphone screeched in protest.

Mike, Matt and Puck ran faster, and Mouse was fairly sure that they were still discussing Jacob's demise. Sighing to herself, she quickened her pace, Tina and Rachel catching up.

...

End of the twenty-fourth chapter..

I hope you liked it!


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee. I do own Mouse, Sarah and Candy though.

(a/n: The solo song performed in Regionals is changed from the original one sung by the character Rachel Berry. Also, this Regionals competition combines 2010 and 2011 from the show.)

_Thank you to those who read and reviewed, I appreciate it!_

_Read on, oh faithful ones..._

...

Chapter Twenty Five

...

"Okay, remember boys, we're here for one thing, and one thing only. That means no looking up girls skirts, no heckling, and no fighting. Candy's singing today, and we are here to support him, got it?" Terrence said sternly, glaring at each of his teammates.

"What if someone else is heckling? Can we fight then?"

"No, because that'd make Candy upset. That's what the slushies are for," Terrence said, grinning slightly when Lee stopped drinking his slushie quickly. "Defend yourself if a fight is started, but _do __**not**_ instigate, understood?"

"Understood," they chorused.

"Good, now, let's get in there before the show starts. Who's buying the popcorn?" Terrence asked, leading his team into the large auditorium.

Above them, the banner reading Regionals 2011 was sparkling brightly in the sunlight.

...

The Warblers took the stage. From his position at the front of the stage, Kurt looked over to where Mercedes, Tina, Mouse, and Candy were standing off stage, grinning broadly and waving to them quickly.

"Oh, wow, he's really got it bad for Blaine, doesn't he?" Mouse murmured, seeing the dreamy expression on his face when he turned to look at his singing partner.

"Blaine kissed him yesterday," Mercedes said, grinning.

"_Really_? Ah, that's so awesome!"

"Fangirl much?" Tina asked with a small smirk.

"Shhh, they're singing," Candy said, his finger to his lips.

Mouse copied the action quickly, but couldn't stop smiling. Mercedes grabbed her hand tightly when they saw Kurt step forward with Blaine.

"He got the solo!" Tina said, grinning broadly in excitement.

Candy glared briefly, a pout on his lips that she was talking again. Tina quickly put her finger to her lips, and they all returned their attention to Kurt and Blaine, the two leads for The Warblers.

"Lost sight,  
Couldn't see,  
When it was you and me.  
Blow the candles out,  
Looks like a solo tonight,  
I'm beginning to see the light.  
Blow the candles out,  
Looks like a solo tonight,  
But I think I'll be alright," Kurt and Blaine sang together.

**"**Been black and blue before."

**"**There's no need to explain,  
I am not the jaded kind,  
Playback's such a waste," Kurt sang.

Blaine looked at Kurt with an encouraging smile before joining in.

**"**You're invisible,  
Invisible to me.  
My wish is coming true,  
Erase the memory of your face.  
Lost sight,  
Couldn't see,  
When it was you and me.

"Blow the candles out,  
Looks like a solo tonight,  
I'm beginning to see the light.  
Blow the candles out,  
Looks like a solo tonight,  
But I think I'll be alright."

"One day,  
You will wake up,  
With nothing but _you're sorries_," Kurt sang, looking to Blaine tenderly.

"And someday,  
You will get back," Blaine sang in return, his eyes softening as he smiled slightly.

"Everything you gave me,  
Blow the candles out,  
Looks like a solo tonight,  
I'm beginning to see the light."

"Blow the candles out, (The candles out),  
Looks like a solo tonight, (Solo tonight)," Kurt sang, Blaine echoing him.

"But I think I'll be alright."

There was a moment of appreciative silence before the applause began loudly, and Mouse had to refrain from calling out loudly.

"That was sweet," Mercedes said.

"I think I'm going to melt into a puddle of goo. Right about here," Mouse said with a laugh.

Before anyone had time to respond, or Candy to reprimand her again, Blaine stepped forward as the stage lit up and the tempo increased.

"Right, right, turn off the lights,  
We gonna lose our minds tonight.  
What's the dealio?  
I love when it's all too much,  
Five am turn the radio up,  
Where's the rock and roll?  
Party crasher, panty snatcha',  
Call me up if you are gangsta.  
Don't be fancy, just get dancy.  
Why so serious?"

"So raise your glass if you are wrong,  
In all the right ways.  
All my underdogs, we will never be, never be,  
Anything but loud,  
And nitty gritty dirty little freaks.  
Won't you come on, and come on, and,  
Raise your glass!  
Just come on and come on,  
Raise your glass!"

Mouse grinned when the entire crowd began to call out, scream, clap, and dance in their seats. _This was going to be one tough act to follow_.

"So if you're too school for cool,  
And you're treated like a fool, (like a fool)  
You could choose to let it go,  
We can always, we can always,  
Party on our own...

**"**So raise your,  
So raise your glass if you are wrong,  
In all the right ways.  
All my underdogs, we will never be, never be,  
Anything but loud,  
And nitty gritty dirty little freaks.

"So raise your glass if you are wrong  
In all the right ways,  
All my underdogs, we will never be, never be,  
Anything but loud,  
And nitty gritty dirty little freaks.  
Won't you come on, and come on! and,  
Raise your glass!  
Just come on, and come and,  
Raise your glass!  
Won't you come on! and come on! and,  
Raise your glass!  
For me.  
Just come on and come and,  
Raise your glass!"

"For me," Blaine finished with a broad grin.

The applause was so deafening that Mouse, Mercedes, Tina, and Candy couldn't even hear the official, and he had to tap them on their shoulders to get their attention.

"New Directions? You're up next!"

Grinning at them, Mouse and Tina squeezed Candy and Mercedes' hands tightly before heading to the other side of the stage to where Mr. Schuester was waiting. As she passed Kurt, Mouse couldn't help but stop to hug him tightly.

"You were awesome!" Mouse said excitedly.

"You will be too. Knock 'em dead," Kurt called.

"We will," she replied over her shoulder, grinning brightly.

"Mouse, Tina, just remember what we talked about. Deep breaths, and project your voices, okay? All the way to the back. Great, good. Just relax," Will said, looking nervous for them.

"We'll be fine, Schue. Go take a seat and just enjoy the show," Mouse said quickly, seeing that his wringing hands and worried expression was making Tina look queasy.

Truth be told, it wasn't helping _her_ much either.

"Right. Well, good luck. You'll both be great!" he said, quickly leaving before the official came over and told him off - the man had heard about what happened at Sectionals, and Will was fairly sure that every event official now knew his name and face.

"Hey, we're going to be freaking awesome, all right?" Mouse said, hugging Tina.

She hugged her a bit tighter in response, taking a deep breath.

"I know. Let's go show them how it's done," Tina said, grinning broadly.

They took the stage, and looking over to the side area, Mouse could see Puck standing with Mercedes, Candy and Kurt. Candy waved, looking ecstatic and eager. She grinned in response, and hurried to take the microphone the official offered her.

The curtain rose, and Tina stepped forward when the beat began to sound.

"I'll be your inspiration,  
But just so you know,  
You can do anything if,  
You put your mind to it.  
Put all your strength behind it,  
Dream big, live large, and..."

Mouse stepped forward to join Tina for the chorus.

"I'll be your inspiration,  
I'll be your dream girl,  
Your wicked little fantasy.  
I'll inspire you, and be,  
Your pretty little muse."

"Just don't blame me,  
If you don't make it,  
I'm not a miracle maker.  
Not going to baby you, boy,  
Not doing everything for you,  
No, I'm not your mother, (Not your mother, boy)," Mouse sang with a grin, Tina echoing her.

"I'll be your inspiration,  
But I won't do it for you.  
You've got to stand up,  
Take responsibility.  
No st-st-stuttering,  
No-no-no excuses," Tina said, her stutter perfect.

"I'll be your inspiration,  
I'll be your dream girl.  
Your wicked little fantasy,  
I'll inspire you, and,  
Be your pretty little muse," they sang together, both grinning at the audience clapping along.

"Just remember that,  
Your biggest source,  
Of creativity is you.  
But if you want, oh..." Mouse stretched the note, louder than she'd ever sang before.

"I'll be your inspiration,  
I'll be by your side,  
And you, boy, you can,  
Stay by my side too," Mouse and Tina finished together, taking a deep bow to the applause that seemed to come from everyone and everywhere at once.

Hugging Tina around the shoulders, Mouse couldn't hold back her grin, even as the rest of the New Directions glee club made their way on to the stage too. Puck smirked at her as she made her way to stand beside him. She just grinned again, squeezing his hand quickly.

The music started once more, and as they began to stomp their boots in sync with the beat, Rachel turned around and stepped forward.

"Yeah, you may think that I'm a zero,  
But hey, everyone you wanna be,  
Probably started off like me.  
You may say that I'm a freak show, (I don't care),  
But hey, give it just a little time,  
I bet you're gonna change your mind," she sang, grinning over at Santana as she echoed her.

"All of the dirt you've been throwing my way,  
It ain't so hard to take, (That's right).  
'Cause I know one day you'll be screaming my name,  
And I'll just look away, (That's right)," Rachel sang, looking away from the audience.

Mouse had to concentrate on singing when she heard Kurt call out in the crowd.

"Just go ahead and hate on me and run your mouth,  
So everyone can hear.  
Hit me with the worst you got and knock me down,  
Baby, I don't care.  
Keep it up, and soon enough you'll figure out,  
You wanna be, you wanna be,  
A loser like me, a loser like me," they all sang together.

In the crowd, Mouse could see Terrence and the footballers helping Kurt and the Warblers to throw around big #1 foam hands.

"Push me up against the locker,  
And hey, all I do is shake it off,  
I'll get you back when I'm your boss.  
I'm not thinking about you haters,  
'Cause, hey, I could be a superstar,  
I'll see you when you wash my car," Finn sang, Artie beside him imitating a washing motion.

"All of the dirt you've been throwing my way,  
It ain't so hard to take, (That's right).  
'Cause I know one day you'll be screaming my name,  
And I'll just look away, (That's right)," Rachel sang, Santana and the rest of the glee club echoing her with broad grins.

"Just go ahead and hate on me and run your mouth,  
So everyone can hear.  
Hit me with the worst you got and knock me down,  
Baby, I don't care.  
Keep it up, and soon enough you'll figure out,  
You wanna be, you wanna be,  
A loser like me."

"Yeah!" Mercedes changed the word until it was a note worthy of a diva.

Mike began to push a cart out, large slushie cups carefully balanced on them. They each took one as he passed, pushing the cart off to the side.

"Go ahead and hate on me and run your mouth,  
So everyone can hear.  
Hit me with the worst you got and knock me down,  
Baby, I don't care.  
Keep it up, and soon enough you'll figure out,  
You wanna be, you wanna be,  
A loser like me, a loser like me, a loser like me!"

They finished the last note, throwing the slushies at the audience. While not everyone present would understand the reference, it was something they'd all wanted to do. The audience began to stand up and applaud before the last note had finished, and most were covered in pieces of red glittering confetti.

Mouse's entire chest was heaving, her body trembling in excitement and nerves, and in a matter of seconds, she felt Puck's arms envelope her in a hug. She hugged him back, unable to stop smiling, no matter what happened. Looking at the others, Mouse paled slightly when she saw the familiar look Finn and Rachel were giving to each other. Before they could do anything, Candy stepped forward and took their hands, bowing deeply. He waved to Terrence quickly, grinning brightly. A few people laughed at his enthusiasm, but most of the crowd was still applauding too much to notice. Following his lead, the rest of the New Directions stepped forward and bowed as well, stepping back as the curtain closed. When they were out of sight from the audience, Candy turned to his sister, tugging on her hand to get her attention away from Puck's hug.

"Terrie's here with everyone!" he said, grinning brightly.

"Were they the group sitting right up the front and cheering loudly?" Mouse asked with a grin, her cheeks flushed from the adrenaline and excitement.

Candy nodded eagerly, swinging Mouse and Puck's hands in his own as they left the stage together.

"Oh, I didn't see them!" she said, laughing when he giggled at her.

"Okay, who spilled their water everywhere? This is a dangerous area to have a hazard," one of the technicians called, leaving before anyone could answer, ordering someone through his earpiece to get a mop and bucket.

There was a small gasp, and they all turned to look at Quinn, who had paled dramatically, her hand over her stomach.

Kurt, who had come backstage to congratulate them on their performance, blanched on seeing them all frozen and the small pool of water near Quinn, leaving two bright red spots on his cheeks.

There was a long moment of silence, and Mouse realised that no one really knew what to do. Letting go of Candy's hand, she stepped forward and looked to Mr. Schuester.

"Mr. Schue? Call 911, we need an ambulance to get to the hospital... Quinn, breathe. In, in, out; that's it. Candy, can you help Quinn breathe like that? Good boy, thank you... Finn, you hold Quinn's hand," Mouse said, looking at them in turn before turning her attention to the others. "Someone needs to stay behind to hear the results, and if we win, accept on behalf of all of us."

They were still silent, Mr. Schue looking at Quinn as he called 911, his eyes wide as she breathed in time with Candy, who looked wondrous and pleased about the arrival of the baby. Finn didn't look quite so happy when Quinn experienced a contraction, and tears sprang to his eyes as his hand was squeezed to white in her usually-tiny hand.

"I'm going," Puck and Finn said at the same time.

"So are we," Mercedes said, Tina and Kurt nodding quickly.

"Quinn? Oh, god, are you all right?" Josh asked, hurrying over.

"Kind of in labour here, Josh," she said between clenched teeth.

"I can see that..."

"Vocal Adrenaline! You're on next!" the official called.

"Do you want me to stay with you? I'll come to the hospital," Josh offered.

"Didn't you hear? You're up next," Tina said, blinking in surprise.

"After your performance, we don't have a chance in hell-o," he corrected, realising that Candy was standing beside him, "in winning. The others can survive without me."

"No," Quinn said, struggling to keep herself from screaming in pain as a contraction tore at her body. "You're going out there and singing. Do **not** argue with me, Joshua."

Josh frowned, not looking happy, but realising that it probably wasn't a good idea to argue with her when she looked like she was crushing Finn's hand easily. "Fine, but I'm coming to the hospital the moment we've finished."

"Good. Now go," she said, giving him a brief smile.

Nodding, he pressed a quick kiss to her forehead, and hurried to where his glee members were calling and waiting for him.

"The ambulance is on the way. You need an adult to go with you, Quinn. Are your parents out there?" Will asked, giving Mouse her phone back.

"No, they're not. You'll come, won't you, Mr. Schue?"

"Sure," he replied, looking surprised and delighted at being asked.

"Okay, so who's going to stay behind?"

No one wanted to miss out on the arrival of Quinn's baby, and so they were all silent at Mouse's question.

"I'll stay," Rachel said after a few minutes of silence. "If - _when_ - we win, I would be honoured to accept the trophies on behalf of my fellow Glee members," she said, smiling at them all.

"Thank you, Rachel. We all appreciate it," Mouse said, squeezing her hand gently.

"I'll stay too," Artie said, giving a small smile.

"Are you sure? We can get your dad," Tina offered.

"No, it's all right. I'm not fond of hospitals anyway," he said with a shrug.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" Terrence asked, ignoring the official telling him that he couldn't be in this area.

"Terrie!" Candy called, waving over to him happily. "Quinnie's having her baby!"

Realising that he was being ignored, and still had more important things to do, the official huffed loudly and left, muttering under his breath about insolent teenagers.

Quinn was led to a seat, and she tried not to cry out in pain as she sat down slowly. Finn whimpered, his eyes screwed shut tightly as she crushed his hand again. Candy was stroking Quinn's stomach slowly, continuing his breathing and making sure she echoed his motion.

In a matter of minutes, the ambulance arrived, and Quinn was guided out of the area by the emergency medical technician and paramedic. Finn looked relieved that his hand was free of her grip, and flexed it gently.

"Okay, I've talked to the EMT; we can follow the ambulance if we're all in the car by the time they have to leave," Will called, hurrying outside.

They all followed him quickly, Artie and Rachel going down to where the footballers were sitting in front of the Warblers. Terrence picked Candy up, grinning when he laughed, and hurried to catch up to the others who were close to running out to the car park.

...

"Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?  
Caught in a land slide, no escape from reality.  
Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see," Vocal Adrenaline sang together.

Josh stepped forward, trying not to focus on his worry for Quinn.

"I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy," Josh sang.

_In the hospital, Quinn was being pushed through hospital on chair, screaming in pain as another contraction seemed to tear and squeeze her body at the same time_.

"Because I'm easy come, easy go, little high, little low.  
Any way the wind blows, doesn't really matter,  
(To me) To me," Josh sang, the rest of Vocal Adrenaline echoing him.

_Quinn was being admitted into the hospital and taken straight to the delivery room; the baby was ready to come out. Quinn calling over her shoulder for Mouse and Mercedes to come with her_.

"Mama, just killed a man,  
Put a gun against his head,  
Pulled my trigger, now he's dead.  
Mama, life had just begun,  
But now I've gone and thrown it all away.

"Mama, (ooo-ooh) didn't mean to make you cry,  
If I'm not back again this time tomorrow,  
Carry on, carry on,  
As if nothing really matters," Vocal Adrenaline sang together.

"Too late, my time has come,  
Sent shivers down my spine,  
Body's aching all the time.  
Goodbye everybody, I've got to go,  
Gotta leave you all behind,  
And face the truth," Josh sang, looking out to the crowd as he stepped out alone.

"Mama, oo-ooh (any way the wind blows)  
I don't want to die.  
I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all," he sang, the rest of his glee members backing him.

_Quinn was screaming, using nearly every swear word she knew, cursing Puck even though he wasn't in the room_.

"I see a little silhouette-o of a man,  
Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the fandango?  
Thunder bolts and lightning, very, very frightening me.  
Galileo, Galileo, Galileo, Galileo, Galileo Figaro  
Magnifico-o-o-o," Vocal Adrenaline sang, a girl and boy singing each Galileo part from their place within the smaller groups.

"I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me," Josh sang.

"He's just a poor boy from a poor family,  
Spare him his life from this monstrosity!"

"Easy come, easy go,  
Will you let me go?" Josh sang.

"Bismillah! No, we will not let you go!" the boys returned.

"Let him go!" the girls begged.

"Bismillah! We will not let you go!"

"Let him go!"

"Bismillah! We will not let you go."

"Let him go!"

"Will not let you go!" the boys in Vocal Adrenaline sang, their voices firm.

"Let me go! (Never!)" the girls pleaded, the boys refusing again.

"Never let you go!"

"Let me go!"

_Quinn was screaming to be let go, pleading to the baby inside her to come out, and to please, please, let her go_.

"Ooooo,  
No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Vocal Adrenaline sang.

"Oh, mamma mia, mamma mia," Josh sang, a grin on his face.

"Mamma mia, let me go!  
Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me,  
For me, for me!" they all sang together.

The guitar player did his solo, the girls dancing and being flipped by their partners, the beat increasing to a rock tempo.

_In the hospital, Quinn was giving a final push, screaming loudly. Beside her, Mercedes' eyes were wide, and Mouse was telling herself that she was never going to do this to herself, ever_.

"So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye?  
So you think you can love me and leave me to die?  
Oh baby, can't do this to me, baby,  
Just gotta get out, just gotta get right out of here!" Josh sang, his voice alone demanding attention and capturing the audience.

"Oooooo-ooh yeah, ooh yeah,  
Nothing really matters, anyone can see,  
Nothing really matters,  
Nothing really matters to me," he sang, his voice much quieter as the others began to line up behind him.

"Any way the wind blows," Vocal Adrenaline finished.

Applause deafened them, every person in the crowd standing, applauding, and cheering. Once the curtains had fallen, Josh hugged a few of his glee members quickly, the rush from singing on the stage making his entire body buzz.

"I've got to go. Accept on behalf of me if we win, okay?" Josh called, rushing off the stage before anyone had the chance to question him or stop him.

...

"Excuse me, nurse? I'm here to see my daughter."

Looking up at the two women who had echoed the exact same words within seconds of each other, the nurse asked for their daughter's name.

"Quinn Fabray," they both answered.

Shelby and Judy looked at each other in shock.

"I'm not getting into this. Room 314, down the hall," the nurse informed them, grabbing a bunch of folders and leaving quickly.

"What on earth do you mean, you're Quinn's mother? **I** gave birth to her!" Judy said, the memory all too clear in her mind on returning to the hospital.

"I didn't mean Quinn was my daughter. I'm here to see my daughter; the baby Quinn just gave birth to. I'm adopting her," Shelby replied.

Judy didn't look entirely appeased, but they both went down to the indicated room. They both had a daughter to see.

...

Stepping out of the delivery room, feeling as exhausted as if she'd been the one to just give birth, Mouse made her way down to the waiting room where the rest of the glee club was waiting.

"Quinn's fine. Mercedes is in there with her while the nurses get the baby all cleaned up," Mouse informed them when they all waited for news expectantly.

"She's really all right?" Finn asked in concern.

"She's exhausted, and I'm fairly sure she won't be able to talk with the amount of swearing she did in there, but she's really all right," she replied with a tired nod.

"Sit down," Puck murmured, pulling her down onto his lap.

Candy was seated between Puck and Terrence, curled up on his seat. His head was resting on Terrence's lap, using his jacket as a pillow. He was smiling even in his sleep, and Mouse smiled at how happy he looked. Sweet and shy Candy had just sung and performed in front of more than a thousand people! She had no way to describe how proud she was of him, and she resolved to hug him very tightly when he was awake again.

"Mouse, right?" a familiar voice asked uncertainly.

Looking up from Puck's embrace, she saw Josh standing there, looking as if he'd just run from the competition to the hospital.

"Yeah. Quinn's fine. She's in room 314. Send Mercedes out; she'll probably need a rest," Mouse said.

With a quick nod and thanks, Josh hurried down the hallway.

In a matter of minutes, Mercedes came out to the waiting room. She sat beside Terrence, her head resting on his shoulder. He grinned at the action and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

There was a moment of silence as they all just rested. Mr. Schuester had stopped pacing and was sitting now that he knew Quinn was all right, but he still looked nervous for her.

A phone rang loudly, startling Candy out of his sleep with a tired noise of annoyance.

"It's mine. It's Rachel," Santana called when everyone checked their phones. "Hello?"

Will looked even more nervous and started to pace again. Everyone watched Santana with expectant looks, and she frowned at them, turning around to escape their gazes.

"Really? Wow, that's surprising... That bad, huh?"

"Does she mean us?" Candy asked, his eyes watering.

"I'm sure she's talking about another group," Mouse attempted to reassure him, smiling briefly.

After a few more minutes of one-sided conversation, Santana finally hung up from the call and turned to face them. No one said a word, too terrified to ask.

"Were we bad?" Candy asked, whimpering.

Santana's serious expression broke out into a broad and bright grin. "We were amazing, if I do say so myself... But, we didn't come in first," she added.

Again, she prolonged the silence before answering. Mouse muttered something about too many dancing shows on television and five-minute pauses from hosts, which Santana ignored.

"We didn't come in third..." Another pause. "We came in second!"

There was a fair amount of screaming for which they received harsh reprimands from the nurses and other patients. Unable to contain his own excitement, Will failed to get the students to calm down. He hugged each of them, his smile huge on his face.

"All right, quiet down now kids. I'm going to go call Emma, Mr. Figgins, and Ms. Sylvester. Heck, I'm calling everyone. Stay here," Will said, looking at them seriously, his grin betraying his expression.

Turning to each other the moment he was gone, they all started talking at once.

"Second. We came _second_ against _Vocal Adrenaline_! They came first, right?" Mouse asked Santana.

"Yes, but apparently it was a really close vote. They loved you and Tina," she said, grinning. "The Warblers came third. Apparently their rendition of Candles lost them points, which is really disappointing, because Kurt was amazing," Santana said, shaking her head.

"Oh, someone's got to tell Quinn and Josh. They'll want to know," Tina said. "I'm going to go call Artie, be back soon," she added, leaving quickly.

"Can sweet tell them?" Candy asked, looking up at Mouse imploringly. "Please?"

"Can I come with you, sweetie?" Brittany asked, smiling at him.

He nodded and held out his hand for her. She took it and they walked down the corridor together, Brittany humming a tune as Candy bopped his head along.

...

Asking Josh to get her something to drink, Quinn explained to her mother that Shelby was adopting the baby, and while Judy didn't say anything, she had a mixture of relief and disappointment on her face.

Once Shelby had left to get the relevant paperwork signed, Quinn turned to face Judy. Her mother was surprised to see the tears in her daughter's eyes.

"Hey, mum? Why didn't you tell me?"

Judy looked uncomfortable, guilt already stabbing at her stomach, despite not knowing entirely what Quinn was going to ask. Instead of asking a question, she began to sing, and with every word that passed through Quinn's lips, Judy felt even worse than if she'd screamed at her.

"Why didn't you teach me a thing or two?  
You just let me go out into the world,  
You never thought to share what you knew.

"So I walked under a bus,  
I got hit by a train.  
Keep falling in love,  
Which is kinda the same.  
I've sunk out at sea,  
Crashed my car, gone insane,  
And it felt so good,  
I wanna do it again."

Judy's knees gave up on her, and she sank down onto a seat, tears spilling from her eyes. After joining the glee club, Quinn had often told her that she sang when she couldn't think of a way to express her emotion. For Judy to have this sung at her was the equivalent of knives of guilt plunging into her and twisting horribly.

"Hey mom, why didn't you warn me?  
Cause I thought boys were something,  
I should have known.  
They're like chocolate cake,  
Like cigarettes,  
I know they're bad for me,  
But I just can't leave them alone," Quinn sang with a hollow laugh.

"So I walked under a bus,  
I got hit by a train.  
Keep falling in love,  
Which is kinda the same."

A knock at the door startled Judy, and Quinn stopped singing to call for the person knocking to enter.

Candy looked in the room with a bright smile, and Brittany's head appeared above his a second later, smiling just as brightly.

"Can we come in?" Candy whispered loudly.

Quinn nodded, and Judy stood up, leaving before anyone could say anything to stop her.

Candy frowned slightly when he saw that the woman was crying, but Quinn was waiting so he went into her room instead.

As he and Brittany were telling Quinn about the Regional results, Josh returned with a large drink for Quinn, and was told about his own win. He thanked Brittany and Candy, and after giving Quinn a kiss, he went to call his glee members.

...

"There isn't a name on the adoption papers," the nurse said, looking to Shelby as she cradled the baby in her arms.

"Beth; her name is Beth," Shelby replied, smiling and unable to look away from her daughter.

"Excuse me, Ms. Corcoran?"

Looking up at her name, Shelby was surprised to see a young man standing beside her.

"Hi, I'm Puck. I'm the father of your baby," Puck said with a brief grin.

...

(a/n: The original song sung by Tina and Mouse was written and belongs to me.)

End of the twenty-fifth chapter.

Thank you for reading. I hope you liked it!


	26. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee. I do own Mouse, Candy and Sarah though.

_Read on, oh faithful ones_...

...

Chapter Twenty Six

...

Mouse watched as Puck introduced himself to Shelby and his daughter. From the moment the older woman had walked out, the baby in her arms, Puck hadn't stopped staring. She'd told him to go over and introduce himself, and he'd only hesitated for a moment before taking her up on her suggestion, and headed over to the nurse's station.

Suddenly, Puck looked over his shoulder to her and smiled, turning back to Shelby with a nod. They both walked over, and Mouse squirmed in her seat uncomfortably. She had no idea what to say to the woman who was adopting her boyfriend's baby.

"Shelby, this is Jane. Jane, this is Shelby. And this gorgeous girl here, is Beth," Puck introduced, taking hold of Beth's hand gently.

"Hello, Jane. It's nice to meet you," Shelby said with a bright smile, but didn't offer her hand to shake while she was holding her daughter.

"It's nice to meet you too, Shelby," Mouse replied quickly. "You must be very happy to have your daughter finally with you."

"Oh, I am. I can't wait to take her home and spoil her rotten," Shelby said, laughing softly as she rocked the child in her arms.

"Oh, that reminds me," Puck murmured, gently taking his hand back from Beth and hurrying over to his seat.

Mouse smiled uncertainly at Shelby, not knowing what to say.

"I'm sorry; this must be awfully uncomfortable for you," Shelby said quietly.

"It's all right; I was the one who sent him over to introduce himself to you and ... Beth," she replied, taking a moment to actually say the baby's name.

Mouse might have been okay with Puck introducing himself to Shelby and seeing his daughter - she would never want him to **not** see Beth because of her own selfish reasons - but she was finding it vastly different when she was brought into it too.

"Would you like to hold her, Jane?"

Mouse was surprised at Shelby's offer, as it seemed as though the woman didn't want to let go of her daughter for the world. She hesitated, wondering exactly how she'd feel while holding Puck's daughter, but eventually managed a nod. Shelby smiled and carefully handed Beth to her. Mouse held Beth, supporting her head as she rocked her softly. Beth yawned, and Mouse grinned at the sight. She was so tiny, her hands were so small, and she was so warm in her arms. It was unbelievable to think that she'd ever been this small before.

Puck had finally managed to get the bag that Candy had accidentally fallen asleep on, and turned to see Mouse with Beth in her arms, smiling at the baby. He stopped to stare, wondering at the sudden feeling to have Mouse standing there with another baby in her arms, one that had been made from both of them; their own baby together. _A baby girl that would grow up to be just as strong and gorgeous as her mother, and Puck would have to beat the boys away to keep her safe, even if his daughter hated him for it. Or a boy that would have his mother's wit and his father's killer body, but Puck would teach him to respect women more than he had before Mouse. He wouldn't let his boy turn out like him if he could help it_...

"You okay, Puck?" Terrence asked with a frown, seeing him just standing there staring at Mouse.

"Yeah, fine," he muttered in reply, heading back to the two women and his daughter. "I got this earlier. I thought Beth might like it," Puck said, offering the bag to Shelby with a quick and hesitant smile.

He'd never bought anything for a baby before, never thought he'd have to buy something like this, but on seeing the small clothing, Puck hadn't been able to resist.

Shelby looked genuinely surprised at the gift and opened the bag, pulling out a small onesie. It was a light yellow colour and had a black guitar on the front, musical notes flowing around the material in a dark swirl.

"It's wonderful. Thank you, Puck," Shelby said, smiling at him brightly.

Embarrassed, Puck nodded. "Do you mind if I hold her?" he asked hesitantly.

Mouse looked to Shelby, who nodded before carefully placing the onesie back in the bag.

"You have to support her head, okay?" Mouse murmured, instructing him quietly as she passed Beth to him.

Puck's arms trembled slightly, and he knew he was staring again. Beth was so small and tiny. She was so light and looked unbelievably fragile. He tried to repress his trembling arms so he wouldn't drop her. _Oh, god. What if he _**_did_**_ drop her? She wouldn't bounce off the ground like a football!_ Puck made himself hold on a little bit tighter, terrified that Beth would manage to throw herself out of his arms if he didn't.

"She's so pretty and tiny," a voice whispered in awe.

Puck grinned at Candy, who looked as though he'd been roused from a year-long sleep rather than the few hours that had passed.

"Candy, this is Beth. Beth, this is Candy," he introduced them quietly.

"Hello Bethy," Candy said, his voice hardly more than a whisper. "I talked to you while you were in Quinnie's tummy, Bethy."

Mouse noticed that Shelby was slightly on edge, as if she was going into withdrawal from having Beth in her arms.

"Hey, Puck, give Beth back to her mum now," she said with a grin.

"Oh, sure. You probably want to get home already," Puck said quickly, realising that Shelby had actually been on her way out of the hospital when he'd gone to introduce himself.

Shelby nodded briefly. "I'd like to settle Beth in sooner rather than later."

Careful not to drop Beth, Puck handed her to Shelby, giving mother and daughter a quick smile.

"Well, I'm sure you'll take good care of her, Shelby," Puck said, nodding confidently. "Just ... if she grows up and you need someone to beat all the boys away, give me a call, okay?"

Shelby nodded, trying not to smile when she saw just how serious he was. "I will, Puck. Thank you."

Mouse's hand slipped into Puck's and they watched as Shelby left the hospital with Beth.

"Are you okay, pretty lady?" Candy asked softly, looking to the blonde woman who was crying. She looked like Quinn, and had been in her room earlier, but he still stayed a safe distance away from the stranger.

Mouse turned to see Judy Fabray sitting in the corner of the waiting room. She was still crying, and it was obvious that she'd seen Shelby leaving with her granddaughter.

Judy seemed surprised at Candy's question, and managed a brief nod, using a handkerchief to wipe away her tears.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Fabray?" Josh asked, coming up beside her as he entered the waiting room. "Quinn would like to see you."

Judy hurried to leave, and as she did, Mr. Schuester returned, his face still bright from their win at Regionals. Figgins had agreed to let the Glee club continue next year, with Sue actually advocating them.

"Most of your parents are here now to pick you up. Does anyone need a lift?" Will asked as they all sat up, peering out of the hospital window to see whose parents were in the parking lot.

"I'm okay, thanks," Tina said.

"Burt's here for me and Kurt, so we'll be fine. Oh, hey, Blaine's with him," Finn said grinning as he nudged Kurt.

"Oh god. Mercedes, how's my hair?" Kurt asked quickly, trying to straighten his shirt from where it had crumpled from sitting down for so long.

Mercedes simply winced in response, and they hurried to the women's bathroom, Tina following quickly.

Candy tugged on Mouse's sleeve. "Can sweet say bye to Quinnie?"

"Quinn's in there with her mum, sweetie. She might not want to see anyone at the moment."

Candy's eyes widened and his lip trembled. Mouse sighed, and nodded.

"Okay, we'll see. But knock first, and wait until Quinn tells you to go inside, okay?" Mouse said.

Candy nodded, taking her hand and going to the room with Puck following. Knocking on the door, Candy stepped back and waited impatiently, bouncing on his feet.

"Come in," Quinn called after a moment.

Grinning brightly, Candy opened the door and walked in to the room. He hurried to Quinn's side, hugging her tightly.

"Love you, Quinnie."

Surprised at his sudden action and admission, Quinn burst into tears. Judy faltered for a moment, and then moved to her daughter's side, stroking her hair as she sobbed into her shoulder and good silk shirt.

Mouse held Puck's hand, not liking to see Quinn crying, her grip tightening in his when Candy, who was exhausted and emotional after Regionals, started crying too.

"Okay, time to go home, sweetie," Mouse murmured when Quinn stopped crying and Candy's tears gave way to small hiccuping sobs.

Candy nodded briefly, his eyes red. He kissed Quinn's cheek gently and let Mouse and Puck lead him back out to the waiting room. Mercedes, Terrence, and Will were all that remained, everyone else having left already.

"Is everything okay?" Will asked, frowning when he saw the tears on Candy's face.

"He's just tired, it's okay. Come on, sweetie. We'll get you home, have a nice warm bath, and I'll put _Toy Story_ on for you, okay?" Mouse offered, stroking his hair gently.

Candy nodded, wiping his tears on his sleeve and hugging himself to Mouse's body firmly.

"I'll drive you home," Puck said, kissing Mouse quickly and leaving to get his car.

"You hear that, Candy? Puck's going to drive us home. You want me to sit with you?" she asked, still stroking his hair.

He nodded in response, his eyes closing as he hugged his sister a bit tighter.

"We'll see you at school on Monday. Have a good weekend," Mouse said as she guided Candy out to the parking lot when she saw Puck pull up to the waiting zone for them.

Will said goodbye to Mercedes and Terrence, and went to say goodbye to Quinn and Josh in the hospital room.

"Would you like to continue that conversation now, Terrence?" Mercedes asked, referring to their arranged date.

He seemed surprised at her question, but nodded. "You really want to go out with me now, straight after Regionals, and Quinn giving birth?"

"Yes, I'd love to," Mercedes said with a bright smile.

Terrence grinned in return, and offered his arm for her to take. Looping her arm through his, Mercedes walked out with him by her side to go on their date.

In her bed, Quinn was exhausted, her hair was a mess, her face was wet from crying, and she wanted to do nothing more than curl up and sleep for a good week.

"Mum? Take me home?" she asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.

Judy nodded, gathering her daughter into a hug. "Of course, baby girl. I'm so proud of you," she added softly, kissing the top of Quinn's head gently.

Quinn didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so she did a mix of the two, and clung to her mother a bit tighter. She just wanted to go home and sleep.

...

Shelby settled Beth down in her cot gently, tucking her blanket around her carefully. She'd dressed Beth in the gift from Puck, smiling as she hummed the music notes to her daughter. Rocking the cot softly to help Beth sleep, Shelby began to sing a lullaby, one she'd sung to her birth daughter before she had given her up for adoption.

"Baby mine, don't you cry,  
Baby mine, dry your eyes.  
Rest your head close to my heart,  
Never to part, baby of mine.

"Little one, when you play,  
Don't you mind what they say.  
Let those eyes sparkle and shine,  
Never a tear, baby of mine.

"From your head down to your toes,  
You're so sweet, goodness knows.  
You're so precious to me,  
Cute as can be, baby of mine."

...

Puck loaded up the last of his pool cleaning equipment in his car, wiping his sweaty forehead on the back of his sleeve. His wallet felt heavy in his pocket, and he grinned a little at the feeling. He was thankful that his clientele hadn't lessened when he stopped sleeping with the cougars. Puck found that if he sang and still cleaned without a shirt on, they'd often tip him a few extra dollars without the sex anyway. He was getting so much business that he was already pre-booked for the rest of the week now that Glee practice was over.

His phone rang before he could get in the car, and he frowned on hearing the generic ringtone. Puck leaned back against the hood of his car and answered the phone.

"Puckerman's Pool Service."

"Hello. This is Noah Puckerman, correct?"

"Yeah, speaking," he answered.

"Excellent. My name is Phil, and I own Lima Liquid Labourers," Phil said, pausing for a moment.

Puck winced slightly. Before his little pool cleaning service, the Lima Liquid Labourers had been the main pool cleaners in Lima. Honestly, he'd expected a call much sooner than this, but had figured that his service hadn't been considered as a threat to the larger business.

"From your silence, I'll assume that you've heard of my business... I've heard that you're making quite a name for yourself, Noah. How would you like to come to my office to discuss this little business of yours?" Phil asked.

"Okay. I've got a few hours free next weekend," Puck said.

Phil seemed surprised that he wasn't rushing to meet him straight away. "Fine. What time would suit you then?"

"About four-thirty on Saturday."

"Very well. I'll see you then, Noah."

Puck hung up, wondering if this was a good or bad thing. He sighed and got in his car, heading home.

...

"It could be bad, Noah. I'd be careful if I were you," his mother pointed out later that night after wrangling the information from her sombre son.

"Yeah, I will be. It's not like he's going to get some thugs to beat me up for stealing his clients," Puck said. "Well, if he was going to do that, I doubt he'd call me to arrange the meeting for it."

"Maybe he wants you to think that! And when you go inside to meet with him, he's going to get some punks to total your car and steal all of your pool cleaning stuff!" Katie said, her eyes wide.

"Don't say that, Katie, you're going to freak Mum out," Puck muttered, shaking his head.

"But it could be true! What if he's a mafia boss?" Katie asked, trying not to giggle.

"We live in Lima, Katie. There's no such thing as mafia here," he said.

"He could have hundreds of thugs working for him!" she said, as if she hadn't heard him, giggling hysterically now. "And they all watch everyone in town to make sure they don't speak against their boss, or they'd beat them up!"

Puck shook his head again, standing quickly and grabbing his sister around the waist, picking her up as she continued to laugh, rambling about the mafia and attempting a bad Godfather-like accent.

The phone rang loudly and their mother answered the call, trying not to laugh at her children's antics.

"Oh, hello Jane. How are you?"

Puck dropped Katie on the lounge, leaving her still laughing wildly, and hurried to take the phone from his mother. She grinned and turned away from his impatient look, still talking with Mouse pleasantly.

"Oh, yes, he is here. In fact, he's bouncing about like a little boy at Christmas. When you come over next, I'll torture him by showing his baby photos to you, wouldn't you like that?"

Puck groaned and snatched the phone away from his mother before she could embarrass him further. Mouse was laughing on the other end of the phone, and he glowered as if she could see his expression.

"If you're done laughing now?" he muttered.

"Not yet. I'm just imagining baby you, mohawk and all!"

"Hey, I was the best-looking baby on the block," Puck defended his younger self, which only set Mouse's laughter off again.

He couldn't help but grin, and quickly headed upstairs before his mother and sister could listen to anymore of their conversation.

"Why didn't you ring my phone?" Puck asked when she'd settled down enough to hear him.

"I tried, but you didn't answer," Mouse replied.

Frowning, Puck hunted over his desk to find his mobile phone, and discovered it had gone flat. Sighing, he held the phone between his ear and shoulder so he could charge his mobile again. He plugged it into the socket, switching the power on, and then sat on his desk chair to continue talking with Mouse.

"I know you're busy with pool cleaning this week, but I wanted to know if you had time for a date next weekend? I was thinking I could kick your ass at bowling," Mouse said with a laugh.

"You wish, Franklin," Puck said, grinning. "I'm busy all day Saturday, but I'm free that night."

"You're not going to be too tired to bowl after cleaning pools all day?"

"Well, I've got an appointment with Phil from Lima Liquid Labourers that afternoon, so I won't be cleaning all day. Should be fine."

"Phillip Mores, the _owner_ of Lima Liquid Labourers?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess that's his name. He only said Phil on the phone," Puck said, shrugging.

"Wow. That's big... Did he say what he wanted to talk to you about?"

Puck ran his hand over his head, sighing. "He said he wanted to talk about my business. I really don't know if it's a good or bad thing," he admitted.

"Hmm, it could be either... I hope it's good though," Mouse said, trying to sound optimistic. "You'll tell me about it afterwards, yeah?"

"Yeah, of course."

In the background, he could hear Candy calling for Mouse, and a loud twang of guitar strings.

"Oh, I'd better go. I think Candy's trying to imitate Stitch on the ukelele," she said with a wince.

"If you show up to school in a grass skirt tomorrow, I know who to blame," Puck said with a laugh.

"Huh, that's not a bad idea. I think we've got some rubbish bags that could be cut up and keep Candy occupied for a while. Have a good night, Noah, see you tomorrow," Mouse said.

"You too. Night," he replied, hanging up from the call seconds after she did.

He grinned at the phone slightly, glad he didn't have to go through that sappy crap of telling each other to hang up. The very idea of it grated against his nerves.

"Noah and Jane, sitting in the tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Katie sang, popping her head into his room and grinning.

"Don't sing that too loud, Katie, or Mum'll give you details of **her** kissing people."

"Ewww," she said, the song forgotten at the thought. "I'm bored... Want to play a board game with me?" Katie asked, pleading and begging for her brother's attention for a night.

"Nah... I've got a better idea," Puck added when her face fell.

"Oh, what?" she asked eagerly.

"Tell mum to get some green plastic bags out of the kitchen, and I'll show you," he said, shooing her out of his room.

Curious and not willing to refuse the surprise, Katie ran downstairs, calling for their mother loudly.

Grabbing a pair of scissors from his desk, Puck went downstairs. He contemplated making his mother and sister swear on their lives not to tell anyone what they were about to do, but then decided that no one would believe Noah Puckerman would make a hula skirt. Either way, he was hiding the camera's batteries so his mother couldn't blackmail him with photographic evidence at a later date.

...

Candy and Mouse came to school each wearing a lei, Candy smiling so brightly that no one dared to say a thing to tease him about it. Mrs. Komp congratulated Candy on his artistic ability to alternate the different coloured paper flowers, stating that the whole class would make some that day.

At lunch, it became obvious that she hadn't been lying, as Candy arrived at the bleachers armed with enough lei for each of them to wear. Terrence grinned when Candy stepped up a few seats so he could put the flower necklace over his head himself.

"These are our team colours, aren't they, Candy?" Lee asked, grinning.

Candy nodded solemnly. "You can wear them next week!"

A slight murmur went through the footballers, not entirely happy at the prospect of wearing flowers to play football. Besides, next week's team weren't known for their mercy. In fact, the Horrible Highland Hornets were known for their brutality on the field. Showing up wearing lei necklaces would get their asses handed to them off the field as well as on it.

"We couldn't do that, Candy. They'd get ruined, or the other team might break them," Terrence said, the others hurrying to agree. "We can keep them in the locker room though," he added when Candy looked ready to cry.

"Okay then," Candy said, smiling a bit at Terrence's suggestion. "Can sweet come to see them?"

"Sure thing, Candy-kid," Puck said with a grin.

Candy made a noise of happiness, hugging and thanking each of them.

"Come on, sweetie. Food time now," Mouse said, holding his lunchbox out to him.

With a nod, Candy took his lunchbox and sat down to eat, swinging his legs.

...

Seeing a grandmotherly looking woman leaving Principal Figgins' office, Will nodded his head to the lady and then popped his head into the office, wondering who she was. She certainly wasn't the parent or guardian of any students, he was sure of it.

"She's the new nurse, Schuester. You have no idea how hard it was to find someone willing to work at this wage," Figgins muttered, but he smiled at the thought of the cheap labour.

"Right. I suppose her wage is coming out of Glee's budget?" Will asked, already trying to think of ways to come up with money.

"Not at all. Second place at Regionals means that next year you will be first, and then everyone will want to attend William McKinley High School. Attendances have already increased for next year. I've had to put people on a waiting list, Will. _A waiting list_," Figgins said excitedly.

Will nodded absent-mindedly, a slight frown forming. "If you didn't take it from Glee, then who..." he trailed off, looking at Figgins in horror. "Oh, God. Please tell me you _didn't_..."

...

Sue Sylvester glowered at everyone as she strode down the hall, not even sparing her cheerleaders. Becky was a few paces behind her, glaring at everyone as well.

"Ms. Sylvester, reports have come in that your laundry budget has been drastically reduced to allow for a new staff member. Care to comment?" Jacob Ben Israel asked, holding his portable recorder up to her.

Glaring at him angrily, Sue snatched the small device, opened the nearest door and threw it as far and hard as she could.

Jacob made a strangled sound of distress and ran out of the door to find his precious recorder.

Sue let out a deep breath of satisfaction, feeling slightly better. But it still wasn't enough to erase all of her anger and annoyance. Her eye twitched slightly.

"FIGGINS!"

In his office, Figgins' eyes widened slightly. Will was fairly sure he was swearing under his breath, but the principal's next actions stunned him too much to dwell on a few curse words. Figgins hurried around Will, locked his office door, and then hurried to his window, opening it wide.

"What are you doing?" Will asked, seeing the man stick his leg out of the window, and yet still not comprehending what he was about to do.

"I'm not staying in here, and if you want to live, you won't stay either," Figgins said over his shoulder, dropping into the garden and running across the grounds.

Hearing Sue yell again, Will decided that Figgins' idea wasn't bad at all, and left through the window, closing the glass pane behind him carefully. Keeping low, Will made his way across the school, trying to ignore the confused and bemused stares the students were giving him.

Knocking on Emma's window, he heard her startled gasp, and looked in the window. Realising that he must look like a stalker, or some sort of maniac, Will gave a quick apologetic smile.

Emma opened her window carefully, frowning at him. "You do realise that you're standing in the garden, Will?"

"Yes, I know. Let me in?" he pleaded.

Nodding briefly, she stepped back. Emma's eyes widened when she saw his dirt covered shoe.

"Oh, my... I'll get something for you to stand on," she said, hurrying to get a large rubbish bag from her desk drawer.

Seeing that Emma looked close to hyperventilating, Will thanked her quietly and stepped on the bag, wincing at the smudge he'd left on the floor behind him. Emma started to clean it straight away, and Will shuffled across the room on his bag so he could sit down and not spread the mess further.

"I heard Sue yelling, I presume that's the reason you're skulking about in the garden?" Emma asked, scrubbing the last speck of dirt away and putting the gloves and dirty wipes in the bin.

"Figgins took away some of her budget to pay for a school nurse. Sue will find some way to blame it on me, I'm sure of it," Will said, shaking his head. "Uh, what are you doing?" he asked, frowning down at her as she pulled on another pair of gloves and began to undo his shoelaces.

She swallowed forcibly, staring at his shoes as if they were a giant three-headed monster. "Those... They cannot be in here. Not like that. I have to clean them."

"Don't worry, I can wash them off outside," Will said, attempting to smile.

"Take them off. _Now_."

Will grinned then, pulling Emma up to him carefully and kissing her heatedly.

"You're irresistible when you're authoritative and demanding, have I told you that?"

Emma blinked, wondering what the sound Will was emitting meant. Then she realised that he was speaking, and as she finally registered his words Emma blushed brightly.

"Now, let's see if I can clean these, and you can tell me what I've missed," Will murmured, sitting down and taking his shoes off, careful to keep them on the bag.

Emma itched to take the awful, _smelly_, **dirty** shoes up and just throw them out the window, but she restrained herself. In a matter of minutes, she was telling him the best way to get dirt out of the small crevices in sneakers, keeping a careful eye on his cleaning to make sure he wouldn't dirty the carpet.

...

End of the twenty-sixth chapter

Hope you liked it!


	27. Chapter 27

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee. I do own Mouse, Candy, and Sarah though.

_Read on, oh faithful ones_.

...

Chapter Twenty Seven

...

"You're very lucky to be offered this, Noah," Phil said as a way of farewelling him. "It's a great opportunity for you, and trust me when I say that I don't offer this sort of thing to simply anyone."

"Yes, Mr. Mores... I mean, Phil," Puck amended with a quick grin. "I'll definitely be in touch with you about this. It **is** a great opportunity. Thank you," he replied, keeping his grin firmly in place as he shook Phil's hand once more and left to his car.

Puck didn't dare stay in his car to think about everything Phil had discussed with him, knowing that if he did, he probably wouldn't leave the parking lot until the next morning.

Driving out of the parking lot, he headed down into town to the bowling alley where Mouse was waiting for their date.

...

"You do realise that I'm kicking your ass at bowling?" Mouse asked, sitting beside Puck when he didn't get up for his turn.

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah," he said distractedly, seeing his score of eighty to hers of a hundred.

"You're usually ahead of me by now, what's wrong?" she asked with a frown.

"Thinking," he replied, shrugging briefly.

"About the meeting with Phil?" Mouse asked, getting a nod in return. "Want to talk about it?"

"What about bowling?" Puck asked, looking to where Mouse's bowling ball had just returned on the machine.

"What about it?" she asked, grinning at him. "This is important, bowling isn't... Even if I am winning," Mouse said with a laugh.

Moving to the computer, she reset the game, and they put their normal shoes on quietly, Puck thinking of Phil's offer once more. Returning the shoes, Mouse took Puck's hand, leading him outside to the car so they could have some privacy and not have to try and talk over the crashing of bowling pins.

"All right, talk," Jane said, smiling him.

With a nod, Noah began talking, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly.

"Phil's offered me an apprenticeship to work for him. He's offered full-time work, and the pay is definitely better than anything I'd get flipping burgers," Noah said, laughing hollowly. "It's just that it's a two year apprenticeship, which means I'd be stuck in Lima, and as it's full-time, I wouldn't be able to go to college. Not that I'm even sure I'd get into college; hell, I don't even know what I'd study if I **did** get in. I'm only good at one thing apart from singing and football, and there isn't a degree for sex," he said with a brief grin, then shook his head, sighed and continued, "I suck at studying, and all Phil could say was how great an opportunity this would be for me. I'm grateful for it, but I don't know if I want to resign myself to it. I mean, you don't want to stay in Lima any longer than you have to, and I don't want to make you choose."

Surprised that he'd considered her in all of this, Jane sat up a little straighter. She didn't interrupt though, and let him continue to talk everything out.

"I'm worried that if I say no to this offer, and I don't get accepted into any college, I'll just be stuck in Lima. I don't want to be a Lima loser... If I do accept the offer, then I might have a chance at making something of myself, even if I'm still in Lima," he said. Hesitating for a moment, he continued, "I don't want to lose you over this," Noah admitted, looking to Jane, his hands still tight around the steering wheel.

"It **is** a really good opportunity. I promise that you're not going to lose me over this, Noah," Jane added, taking one of his hands in her own. "I have no idea what will happen after we finish high school, or where I will go. I do know that no matter what happens, I will be coming back as often as possible. I can't leave Candy here alone with Sarah," she said, her free hand clutching into a fist at the thought. "I don't want to lose you either," Jane admitted quietly.

They were both silent for a moment, still holding hands loosely.

"You'll definitely be coming back? You're not going to go across the country, forget about Lima, and never come back here?" Noah asked hesitantly.

"I can't forget about Lima if you and Candy are here," Jane promised. "You're not going to forget about me if I leave and some pretty young girl looks your way?"

"Why would I want a girl when I have you? You're so much more than anyone I've ever known before," Noah said, squeezing her hand gently. "You're not going to chase some library guy around, are you?"

Jane snorted, shaking her head as she laughed. "Of course not. I'm a one-man woman, and you're definitely more than enough man for me," she said, bringing their hands up to press a kiss to the back of his palm.

"Never doubted it," he said with a wink, leaning across the seat to kiss her lips.

"So... You're going to take the job offer?" Jane asked when they'd pulled apart.

"Yeah, I think so," Noah said, nodding.

"I'm really happy for you," she said, kissing him and smiling.

"Thanks. I'm happy too," he replied, surprised at his own admission.

They lapsed into a comfortable silence, both thinking of the future, and hoping that the other would be in it the way they hoped.

Neither felt like going back into the bowling alley, so Puck drove Mouse back to her house. Stopping the car, they both sat there for a moment, until he leaned across to kiss her again.

"Love you," he whispered.

"Love you," she replied quietly, smiling. "Go home and let your mother know what happened; I'm sure she's been waiting for news all night," Mouse said with a grin.

"Yeah right. See you tomorrow," Puck said.

"See you then," she replied, getting out of the car and heading up to the house.

Waving to Puck when she had the door open, she waited until she couldn't see his tail lights before going inside. Frowning when she realised that she couldn't hear the TV on like she thought it would be, Mouse looked in the lounge room to see what Candy and Sarah were doing. Sarah was no where in sight, but Candy was sitting on his beanbag, Terrence sitting beside him, reading a picture book in soothing tones. They were surrounded by pieces of paper, and a mess of textas, pencils, and crayons.

"Mousie, look! Mummy called Terry for a play date with sweet and he came!" Candy said, waving up at her enthusiastically.

Terrence stood up off the floor, looking apologetic. "Sorry, Mouse. Your mother called me around eight, saying that she was going out, and asked me to look after him. I didn't know what else to do."

"No, don't be sorry, Terrence. Thank you for coming over. You've been a good boy for Terrence, haven't you, sweetie?"

Candy nodded solemnly. "Sweet got paper and colouring things from Mousie's room. Quickly though!"

"That's good, sweetie. Do you want to go to bed now, so Terrence can go home and sleep too?"

Looking up at Terrence, Candy's bottom lip trembled and he hugged him tightly. "Finish reading to sweet first?"

"Uh, yeah. I can do that, Candy kid," Terrence agreed, carefully untangling Candy from his body and guiding him back to the beanbag.

"I'll be right back," Mouse said, both boys nodding to her.

Hurrying upstairs, she changed into her pyjamas quickly, throwing her bathrobe on top before going back downstairs in record time.

Candy was following the words in the picture book slowly, tapping the word when he didn't understand a word. In deep and soft tones, Terrence explained the word's meaning the best he could before continuing to read. Mouse sat behind them on the lounge, her legs tucked up under her body, and she closed her eyes as she listened to Terrence reading, intending to rest for a few minutes.

Feeling herself being shaken, Mouse struggled to open her eyes. She blinked for a moment, but then her eyes closed once more, and she was too exhausted to do more than mumble something about being left to sleep.

"Terry has to carry Mousie upstairs," Candy whispered, tugging on Terrence's shirt. "Mummy says the couch isn't for sleeping on," he added.

Frowning down at Candy, Terrence looked to Mouse. She was curled up tightly and he wasn't sure if he could carry her like that. _Puck was going to kill him if he even so much as touched her inappropriately, even if it was accidental_.

"Please, Terry. Mummy will yell at Mousie if she sleeps there," Candy said, his eyes wide.

"All right, Candy kid. Just give me a minute. I don't want to wake Mouse up. Can you hand me that blanket there?" Terrence asked, nodding to the blanket hanging off the end of the couch.

Feeling important and helpful, Candy passed the blanket to Terrence seriously, watching to see what he would do next.

Putting the blanket over Mouse, Terrence lifted her up carefully, her entire body wrapped up and covered. He nodded at Candy so he'd move out of the way, and carried Mouse upstairs to her room. Terrence didn't dare rush and drop her; if Puck would have killed him for touching her, Terrence knew that he'd do so much worse if he actually dropped her.

"Candy, move the blanket back," Terrence whispered.

From the doorway, Candy hurried into the room and pulled Mouse's blanket back. Terrence placed Mouse on the mattress, and helped Candy put the blanket over her. With that done, Candy pressed a kiss to her cheek, whispering that he loved her very much.

"Okay, come on, Candy kid. You'd better get to bed too. You don't want to be tired for school in the morning, do you?"

Thinking about it very seriously, Candy finally shook his head. Taking Terrence's hand, they left Mouse to sleep.

...

"I'm so proud of you, Noah," his mother said, hugging him tightly and kissing his cheek firmly. "That is wonderful news."

"You're not upset that I might not go to college?" Puck asked incredulously.

She waved a hand at him, shaking her head. "Of course not; I didn't go to college, so why would I pressure you to do something I never did? You just make sure you marry a smart girl, and she'll keep you in line."

"Yeah, planning on it, Mum," Puck replied with a grin.

She raised her eyebrows at him, somewhat surprised that he wasn't running for the hills (or hiding away in his bedroom) at the mere mention of marriage.

"You'd better tell me before you set anything in stone, understood?" she said, levelling him with the most unforgiving version of The Look.

"Yes, Mum," he replied quickly, seeing her expression and knowing that it meant endless bouts of pain and nagging if he didn't comply. "Going to bed now. I'll see you in the morning."

She nodded, hugging and kissing him once more before shooing him upstairs to go to sleep.

Up in his room, Puck pulled his shirt off and flopped onto his bed, tired from the physical and emotional day. Despite it all, he was happy and felt light, as if a huge weight had lifted from his shoulders. Thinking of the conversation he'd had with Jane earlier, Noah smiled broadly and rolled over to fall asleep in seconds.

...

"Puck, you have to stop distracting me. I need to study," Mouse muttered, trying to read her textbook over his shoulder.

Puck, who was kissing her neck and had his hand under her shirt, just grinned and continued to press hot kisses against her skin.

"Come on, move already. Your test results haven't come back yet, and you're not an animal in heat. Stop distracting me," Mouse said, shoving at his shoulder so she could stand and move away from his distracting advances.

Grinning again, Puck followed her. She stopped and gave him her most unimpressed look, her books clutched to her chest. He circled around her, a song flowing from his lips and teasing both of them.

"If you could only see the beast you've made of me,  
I held it in but now it seems you've set it running free.  
Screaming in the dark, I howl when we're apart,  
Drag my teeth across your chest to taste your beating heart.

"My fingers claw your skin, try to tempt my way in,  
You are the moon that makes the night for which I have to howl.  
My fingers claw your skin, try to tempt my way in,  
You are the moon that breaks the night for which I have to..."

Moving closer to Mouse, taking in her heavy breathing and glazed eyes in a glance, Puck grinned and leaned in to whisper in her ear, "Howl."

"Damn it, Puck. If you don't stop distracting me, I'm going to fail my exams, and I'll never get the scholarship," Mouse said. "Please, just... not today, okay?"

Puck nodded reluctantly. He was finding it increasingly hard to keep away from Mouse; he just wanted to touch and kiss her, he wanted to see the look on her face as he did those things and more... Sighing to himself, Puck knew that she was right. Mouse needed to get a scholarship, and he knew that he'd never forgive himself if she failed her exams because he'd distracted her like he wanted to.

Keeping his hands by his side, Puck stole one more kiss before stepping back from her. Mouse looked at him, wary of this sudden change.

"Come on, let's get that beautiful brain of yours to work," Puck said, grinning.

"Really?" she asked, still cautious.

"Really," he replied with a nod. "You don't want to fail, and I don't want you to either."

Surprised but grateful, Mouse smiled brightly and kissed him quickly. "Thank you, Puck. Come on, I'll help you with English, and you can help me with Spanish."

"_Si, señorita_," Puck said, following her to the desk.

She didn't even tell him off when he started playing footsies later.

...

The footballers were nervous as hell; Lee was pacing the change room, Terrence was trying to control his breathing, Finn had his eyes shut tightly and was seemingly praying, Mike and Matt were shaking out their hands, trying to get rid of their nerves, while Puck's foot just couldn't seem to stop tapping incessantly. The Horrible Highland Hornets had arrived, along with enough fans to fill a little more than half of the stands.

"Look at the size of them! We're going to be _slaughtered_," one of the jocks groaned when he saw them out of the doorway.

"Can we get them tested for steroids or something?" Lee asked, whimpering at the sight of the towering opposing team.

Lee was smaller than most of the other footballers, but he was fast, which is why Beiste had put him as a running back. If one of those Highland Hornets connected with him while he was running, Lee was sure that he'd snap in half.

"All right, boys, get a grip on yourselves. They might be huge, but you're faster than them. We've been training for this," Beiste said, looking at each of them in turn. "You're fast, and you know the gameplays. You'll get this done, and you will be fine," Beiste said, but there was a tremor in her voice that betrayed her confidence. "See you on the field in five," she added, leaving quickly.

A few moments later, there was a timid knock at the door, and Candy poked his head in to look at them. "Can sweet come in?" he asked hesitantly, seeing the sombre looks on their faces.

"Sure, Candy. We're just a bit worried about playing the other team at the moment," Terrence said, explaining the moody atmosphere.

"You'll play good though?" Candy asked, too worried to even notice that their lei were hanging on their lockers, as promised.

"We'll try," Terrence said hesitantly.

"Do or do not, there is no try," Candy said firmly.

Puck laughed, even as his foot continued to tap. Candy nodded his head along to the tapping sound, grinning when he saw that Mike and Matt were shaking their hands in time to Puck's tapping foot, and even Finn's words seemed to take on a faster pace. Candy started to tap along with Puck, and Terrence looked at him with a frown, wondering if foot tapping was contagious.

"Don't - don't - don't - don't stop the beat,  
I can't - can't - can't - can't control my feet!  
P-p-p-people in the street,  
C'mon everybody and move your feet!"

The footballers were all watching him, but they seemed to understand what Candy was doing, and Puck sang along with the chorus.

"Don't stop (don't stop) don't stop the beat,  
Can't stop (can't stop) can't stop the beat,  
Won't stop (won't stop) won't stop the beat, go!"

Mike and Matt were now slapping their hands against the lockers in time with the fast-paced song, and sang together,

"Everybody, a-move your feet and feel united,  
Oh-oh-oh!  
Everybody, a-move your feet and feel united,  
Oh-oh-oh!"

Finn grinned, singing, "Yeah,  
We're going downtown, oh yeah!"

"Sing - sing - sing - sing - sing my song,  
And you - you - you - you - you sing along!  
Just put - put - put - put my record on,  
And all of your troubles are dead and gone!" Candy sang loudly, over the roar of the Hornets' fans.

The last one to join in, Terrence added his voice to the song, and for a moment their song could be heard even out in the stands.

"Don't stop (don't stop) don't stop the beat,  
Can't stop (can't stop) can't stop the beat,  
Won't stop (won't stop) won't stop the beat, go!"

Making their way out of the room with Candy leading them, the footballers all sang their way onto the field, their feet moving as fast as they'd practiced before. In the stands, the band had picked up the song, and New Directions were singing loudly. Kurt, who had invited Blaine and the rest of the Warblers, was singing loudly as well. Despite their fans' smaller numbers, they were singing louder than the Hornets' cheering.

"Don't stop (don't stop) don't stop the beat,  
Can't stop (can't stop) can't stop the beat,  
Won't stop (won't stop) won't stop the beat, go!

"Everybody, a-move your feet and feel united,  
Oh oh oh!  
Everybody, a-move your feet and feel united,  
Oh oh oh!"

Cheering and applause ended the song, and the footballers were still on such an adrenaline high that they didn't even notice the looks they were getting from the Hornets. After hugging Puck, and handing Terrence's lei to him, Candy headed to the bench with Coach Beiste.

"All right, guys. Let's get this done," Terrence said, grinning as he pulled on his helmet.

During the scrimmage, one of the Hornets taunted Terrence about the lei. Within a matter of seconds of the whistle being blown, that same player had found himself flat his back by the offensive liner. Another Hornet player attempted to tease the footballers about their song onto the field and was soon tackled by Finn; in the second quarter's scrimmage, one of the Hornets mentioned the boy who had led the song onto the field and was subsequently tackled by Matt and Mike, despite both being wide receivers. The Hornets soon learned that taunting the opposing team about the lei, singing or the boy who had led them was a **very** bad idea.

Throughout all of their plays, each player could hear the song playing in their head, and their feet kept up the fast pace. When half-time came around with the Hornets leading by a single touchdown, no one was more surprised than the McKinley High football team.

The Cheerios made their way onto the field for the half-time show, Brittany and Santana waving to Matt and Mike, and hurrying past before Sylvester could yell at them through her megaphone.

"Excellent game so far, boys. Your little mascot has a few words to say," Beiste said with a grin, indicating for Candy to come forward.

"Sweet's not little!"

"Right. Sorry, Candy," Beiste apologised quickly.

He nodded, then smiled brightly at the team. "Sweet was told to tell you to do plays 32, 55, and 87."

"We can't do that, Coach! I've already got three players on me, and I can barely make a pass!" Finn said, turning to her.

"You **can** do it, and you **will** do it. You're one touchdown behind. If you can't win, you can draw. No one has been this close to beating the Hornets for years!" Beiste said.

A loud coughing sounded behind them, and they turned to see Candy standing there, looking very stern.

"Sweet isn't done!" he said, looking at each of them in turn until they stopped arguing and gave him their attention. "Sweet and Mousie brought oranges," Candy said proudly, waving his sister over from the stands.

No one had the heart to tell Candy that the tradition of oranges as a half-time snack had been replaced with energy and sport drinks, and they took a few slices of oranges each meekly under their mascot's watchful gaze.

"Don't say a thing about me serving oranges, or I'll kick you," Mouse muttered when Puck grinned up at her holding the tray of orange slices.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he said, taking a few slices and stealing a kiss.

When they were all seated and eating their orange slices, Candy took one for himself, putting it in his mouth and smiling at Terrence and Puck brightly. Puck burst out laughing at the sight of the orange-smile, and Terrence grinned his own orange-smile back at Candy. The rest of the team did the same, grinning broadly at each other. Before they could protest, Mouse gathered them all together to take a photo of the team with Candy, their mouths full of orange slices.

"Oh, I'm going to deliver that photo to the yearbook committee personally," she said, laughing.

"Did sweet blink?" Candy asked, frowning as he looked at his picture.

"No, you smiled perfectly, sweetie," Mouse reassured him.

The footballers talked with Beiste a bit calmer after the oranges and water, working through the plays they could use in the game.

The whistle blew to signify the start of the last half, and Candy waved to them as Mouse led him to the stands.

Tina and Mercedes were sitting with Blaine and Kurt, the four of them arguing over the validity of silk scarves, and the McKinley football team's colours versus the Hornets. Carole and Burt were sitting beside them, the former looking amused and the latter keeping a careful eye on his son's boyfriend's hands.

When the whistle blew once more for the game to start, their conversation died down, and the attention was turned to the football game. Blaine took Kurt's hand in his own, squeezing and calling out in excitement when McKinley made a yard. Burt seemed both impressed and appeased at Blaine's excitement for the football game, Carole holding back a laugh before turning her attention to her son on the field once more.

The game continued, the natural sugar from the oranges flowing through their bodies, and they fought for every touch, tackling the Hornets harder, and throwing the ball further. During half-time the Hornets had been reprimanded and yelled at by their coach and were now working hard to keep their reputation in tact. For every touch, tackle, and throw, they retorted with their own, desperate to be number one, and not be beaten by a team who were so low on the ladder they hadn't even seen the rungs.

The third quarter was over in what felt like seconds with the Hornets leading by three points. From the stands, the McKinley fans were cheering loudly, and the footballers finally felt as though they might actually win against the Hornets.

The whistle blew for the final quarter to begin, and they all lined up for their scrimmage. Their riskiest play was about to put into motion, one they'd barely finished learning the week before under Coach Beiste's tutelage. Breathing out to try and release his nerves and tension, Terrence glared at the man opposing him.

"We've got this," he murmured, too low to be heard by anyone else.

The whistle blew and Terrence ran forward to connect solidly with his opposing player. The football was swiped up by Finn, and after the three players on him were taken down, the ball was thrown as far and hard as possible down the field. Lee, who had started running the moment the whistle blew, chased after the bouncing ball quickly. Catching it, he tucked it under his arm and ran even faster, very aware of the Hornets' that were gaining on him.

"Oh, god. I can't watch," Kurt said, covering his eyes.

Beside him, Blaine was yelling for Lee to run faster, along with most of the people in the stand. Candy was standing at the front rail, cheering loudly with Mouse.

"Come on, Lee! Faster!" Coach Beiste was yelling from the sidelines, just as excited as the rest of the team.

Lee was running out of steam. He could hear the Hornets right behind him, and was positive that he could see their shadows gaining on him. His fear gave way to a new bout of adrenaline and he ran a bit faster still, his chest tightening. Lee looked ahead, glad that the goal post seemed that much closer. He grinned beneath his helmet, held the ball a bit tighter and ran for his life.

The whistle blew loudly, signifying that he'd scored a touchdown, and Lee finally came to a stop, his legs aching. The Hornets had only been a few metres behind him, but it seemed that Beiste was right: they were big, but they weren't fast.

Making his way back to the rest of his team, Lee couldn't stop grinning. He was too happy to even make a barb at the other team, whose coach was already yelling at them from the sidelines.

The minutes turned into seconds, and eventually, the game was over. The McKinley team hadn't won, but they hadn't lost either. For the first time in years, someone had actually drawn even with the Hornets. The cheers from the stands made the footballers feel as though they'd won and they couldn't stop smiling.

Candy ran to the bench, waiting impatiently to congratulate his team once they came off the field. Coach wouldn't let him on the field again, and Mouse explained that his team could be in big trouble if he ran on the field without permission. The moment Terrence was close enough, Candy launched himself into his arms, hugging him tightly. Pulling his helmet off, Puck kissed Mouse eagerly, who went red when their friends all wolf-whistled from the stands.

"All right, back away from the players. They've got to go shower and cool off, then they can celebrate, all right?" Beiste asked.

"Right, we'll wait over there. Come on, Candy, we've still got some orange slices left," Mouse said, grinning at him.

Nodding, Candy let go of Terrence and followed his sister to the tray of oranges and their bags.

"Hey, kids. We'll meet you at BreadstiX, okay?" Burt called over the rail, Blaine and Kurt laughing together beside him.

"Okay, drive safe!" Finn called, ducking his head to enter the locker room.

"Bye!" Candy called, waving up at them.

They waved back to him, and Candy hummed happily as he ate the remaining few orange slices, waiting for the footballers to finish cooling off.

When the footballers came out, both Candy and Mouse were surprised at their attire. They were all wearing their normal clothes, but around each of their necks, they were wearing the lei that Candy had made for them.

"It was Finn's idea to wear them if we won," Terrence explained.

"Figured that drawing against the Hornets was close enough to a win for us," Puck added, grinning broadly.

Mouse kissed him, her arms around his neck, but careful of the flowery lei. "Thank you, Noah," she murmured against his lips.

"You're welcome. Come on, I'll drive you and Candy to BreadstiX to celebrate," he said, kissing her once more before pulling away.

"Coming, Coach?" Lee asked, grinning at Beiste.

Beiste seemed surprised at the invitation, looking at the used towels in her hands for a moment. She always cleaned up after the games; there was hardly ever a win to celebrate, and the team went home after she reminded them to be up for their training session the next day.

"All right, I'll come," she said, smiling back at her team. "But we've still got training tomorrow morning," Beiste added sternly.

"Yes, Coach," they chorused.

Before she could gauge their sincerity, Beiste felt something tug at her shirt, and she turned to see Candy standing behind her.

"Can sweet come too?"

She considered it for a moment, looking over his head to Mouse who gave a brief nod, and then looked to Candy once more. Her face went serious and she knelt to be eye-to-eye with him.

"You'll have to be up early tomorrow morning, are you okay with that?"

Candy nodded enthusiastically.

"And you'll have a very important job of carrying the red cones onto the field for me, do you think you can handle that?"

Again, he nodded, barely able to contain his glee.

"Can you carry my clipboard and help me by telling the boys the game play?" Beiste asked, her voice so serious that Candy actually hesitated for a split second, and everyone stopped talking to watch.

"Sweet can do that," he replied, nodding for the final time.

"Then welcome to the McKinley High Football Club, Candon Franklin," Beiste said, smiling.

Terrence took his lei off and put it over Candy's head solemnly. Candy burst into tears, hugging Beiste around the neck tightly.

"No need for tears, Candy. We're going out to celebrate, remember?" she asked, patting him on the back and looking frantically for his sister.

"Yeah, we're going out now, and if you're extra good, I'll buy you a chocolate spider shake," Mouse said, tapping his shoulder briefly.

Candy stopped crying, loud hiccups of noise following in their wake. He rubbed at his eyes and looked up at his sister. "With extra chocolate?"

"With extra chocolate," Mouse agreed with a grin. "Want to ride in the back or front of Puck's car?" she asked, taking him by the hand and leading him to the parking lot.

Puck and the others followed them, talking amongst themselves and congratulating each other and their Coach for a game well done.

...

End of the twenty-seventh chapter.

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it.


	28. Chapter 28

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee. I do own Mouse, Sarah, and Candy though.

_Read on, oh faithful ones_...

...

Chapter Twenty-Eight

...

Mouse tossed and turned in her sleep, a nightmare pulling at her mind and drowning her. She was being suffocated, hands were grabbing at her, but she couldn't get away, she couldn't save herself. She was being pulled and pushed, and her head was pounding. She could taste blood, her hands curled into tight fists so that her nails pierced the skin. She screamed, but the noise was muffled and no one heard as she drowned in the blackness.

Waking up, her own terror propelling Mouse from her nightmare, she took a few deep breaths to try and calm herself. She was trembling, covered in sweat, and despite the blanket she'd had earlier, she was freezing. Getting out of bed, she fixed her twisted sheets and fallen blanket, crawling back under the cover and wrapping it around her tightly.

Mouse knew the reason for her nightmare, but that didn't make it any better. When home group began later that morning, her nightmare could very well become a reality. Kent had been released from hospital, had gone through physiotherapy treatments, and was returning to school that day.

...

Six hours later, Mouse was standing as close to Puck as was possible. If not for the fact that she was squeezing his hand so tightly that their hands were completely white, their proximity might have been considered inappropriate.

"Say the word, and I'll deck him," Puck murmured in Mouse's ear. He caressed her shoulder gently, trying to reassure and soothe her, but she looked too wired and tense to relax for long.

Just as Mouse was going to reply, to tell him not to do something that could look bad for his academic or working career, Kent entered the room. Silence descended immediately, and Mouse wished that everyone had just kept talking, acting as if his return to the class wasn't as big a deal as it felt. Somehow, she fought back the desire to be sick and managed to move even closer to Puck. It was only then that she realised that Mercedes and Tina had given up their usual spots beside her so that the football team could sit around her, protecting her as her Glee members couldn't.

Kent ignored her, ignored everyone's silence, and took a seat near the door. Noise returned slowly, but Mouse couldn't bring herself to relax. Puck was murmuring something in her ear, but she couldn't focus on his words, her mind caught up at Kent's mere presence. Puck moved so that Mouse was sitting on his lap and wrapped his free arm around her shoulders, glaring at the teacher and daring him to say anything about it. The moment the bell rang for the first lesson, Kent seemingly disappeared from the room.

"You 'kay to go to class?" Puck asked, his words starting to register in her mind.

Not trusting her voice, Mouse simply nodded. Puck gave a nod to the surrounding footballers, and they all stood up in unison to lead her to their Spanish class with Mr. Schuester. In the middle of the mass of bodies, Mouse let herself start to relax.

She told herself that it was stupid to feel this way, to let Kent make her feel this way. _She was stronger than this, she was smarter than this, and it was just a result of her nightmare earlier that morning that was making her feel so vulnerable_. Resolving to **not** become a basket case, Mouse took a deep breath and made herself stand up straighter.

Puck squeezed her hand gently, smiling to reassure her. _No one would hurt her the way Kent had, he would make sure of it_.

...

"I know that this day is a bit tense on everyone, but I thought that I might be able to ease some of the emotion with _these_," Rachel said at lunch, handing out slips of paper to each of them.

"You are invited to Rachel Berry's 17th birthday: a slumber party, to be held this Sunday from 4pm," Tina read aloud.

"A Sunday night?" Finn asked, surprised that her fathers had agreed to it.

"Yes. It's the only night that everyone's available. Santana and Brittany have Cheerios practise on Friday, and Artie has band practice on Saturday; I really wanted everyone to attend," Rachel said, looking uncharacteristically shy. "My fathers have agreed to drive everyone in for school the next day," she added quickly.

Mercedes frowned on seeing the note at the bottom. "BYOB and plate?"

"Bring your own blanket," Rachel answered quickly. "And I know that not everyone will enjoy the vegetarian things I like, so I thought if you all brought a plate of food, then you know you'd like something," she said with a brighter smile.

"Candy has to work on next week's gameplay with Coach Beiste this weekend, so I might not be able to come," Mouse said.

"Please try, I'd really like for you to be there," Rachel said, her eyes wide.

"All right, I'll try," Mouse said, not feeling overly optimistic about her chances.

Candy entered the cafeteria with Terrence beside him, the younger boy's arms tightly holding a large blue folder. Terrence grabbed two trays for them and carried them to the table.

"What's that, Candy?" Mouse asked as he sat down.

"It's Coach's folder. Sweet's protecting it," Candy said proudly, sliding onto a seat without letting go of the folder.

"Are you going to let go of it?" she asked, receiving a very firm shake of the head in return. "Then how will you eat your lunch?"

Candy looked at his folder, then to the lunch tray that was in front of him with a frown. "Mousie will feed sweet," he declared, smiling brightly at his solution.

"Will I? I think you're missing a few words there, Candy kid," Mouse pointed out.

"Will Mousie please feed sweet, _please_?" Candy asked quickly.

"All right. Terremce, swap places with me, would you?"

There was a bit of noise and shuffling (Mouse might have physically climbed over Puck, but it happened so quickly that he wasn't really sure), and in a matter of minutes, Mouse was sitting next to Candy, feeding him carefully. The blue folder never left his arms for the duration of lunch.

...

"Now, before you do any cleaning, you need to measure the pH level of the water. That determines how much salt and chemicals you have to put in for the water to be clean enough to swim in safely," Phil instructed him.

Puck nodded, trying to keep his mind focused on what Phil was telling him rather than on his tight shirt. 'Lima Liquid Labourers' was emblazoned on the back of it, but the baby blue shirt felt like it was a size too small and the buttons were restricting around his neck.

"I'll show you how to do that, then you can give it a go."

Unbuttoning his shirt's top button with a quick swipe, Puck felt a little easier, and was able to watch Phil without feeling like a boa constrictor was strangling him.

The instructions continued for the next three houses, totalling almost five hours of work. When Puck had just been cleaning himself, all three houses would have taken less than an hour, but he was kind of proud that he was doing it _right_ this time around.

Phil had looked a little ecstatic on seeing Puck's extensive clientele list, and had promptly added the names, addresses, and phone numbers of the numerous women in his database. Puck had called each of them personally to inform them that he would now be working at Lima Liquid Labourers, and all of the women were more than happy for him to keep servicing their pools. The LLL boys had a reputation for being pretty, and the cougars had been happy with their service before Puck and his _extra service_ had come along.

"Now, I've still got another two houses to do, but I know you've got exams coming up, so you're getting the rest of the night off... Go home and study. Trust me, Noah, you don't want to fail your exams as spectacularly as I did. It was pure dumb luck that I got this business up and running, and I had to go back to school _twice_ before it became as successful as all this," Phil said as they returned to the LLL building and employee carpark.

"Thanks for the advice," Puck said.

"It wasn't advice, it was a warning," he said seriously.

Suddenly, the bright and glistening future that Puck had built around this job and career didn't seem so certain.

"Right. Thanks for the warning then. I'll study and pass my exams, don't worry about that," he said with a quick and confident grin.

"Good luck, Noah," Phil called.

Puck got in his car and waited until Phil had left the carpark before driving home. He had some serious studying to do.

...

Mouse was surprised when Puck suggested that they should study together, and even more surprised when he actually seemed to mean it. _Something had kicked him and made him get his butt into gear, that was certain_.

After arranging a study date for that Saturday at her house, Mouse asked Puck how his afternoon went with Phil.

"It was good. Learnt a lot, but I swear I'll be dreaming of pH levels tonight," he replied with a good-natured groan.

"I'm sure there's worse to dream about," she said, and Puck just knew that she had a wicked smile on, even through the phone.

"Mmhmm... So, what are you wearing?" he asked, leaning back on his chair.

"Pyjamas. Y'know, all of that sexy flannel with the check pattern on it," Mouse said, rolling her eyes.

Puck laughed. "God, I love you."

"I know... Oh, that reminds me. After exams have finished, want to do a _Star Wars_ marathon?"

For a moment, Puck didn't know how to respond. Sure, he knew that Mouse knew about _Star Wars_, especially from her quoting Yoda and that joke about Han Solo, but Puck hadn't really connected it with having a girlfriend who actually knew, liked, and would **willingly** watch _Star Wars_ with him.

"Sure. Need me to bring them over?"

At this, Mouse laughed heartily. "Oh, that's hilarious. You think I don't own my own copies? Please, I've got a light-up lightsaber and a _Star Wars_ hat hidden in the back of my closet."

"Why'd you hide it?"

"Because it's one from _Episode I: The Phantom Menace_. I was too young to understand that it was an awful film, but I still can't bring myself to throw it away... The lightsaber's hidden because if I see it, I'll want to play with it, and apparently I give Mother a headache when I make all of the sound effects. Which reminds me, I should do that on Saturday morning when she's hungover. Want to come in early? We can re-enact the fight scene between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader."

"Only if I can be Obi-Wan," Puck said, grinning broadly.

"You really think I'd let you be Darth Vader? I get to wear the cool helmet, you get the ugly robe... Damn, why isn't there a lightsaber fight scene with Han Solo? He gets the tight pants," Mouse said, somewhere between a pout and laughter.

_Don't think of slave Leia, don't think of slave Leia... Ah, screw it_.

"Tell me you've got a slave Leia outfit hidden somewhere too," he asked, his voice cracking.

There was a long moment of silence, and Puck was almost certain that she was doing this on purpose just to hear him squirm.

"Not yet," Mouse said with a grin, and those two words had never held more promise.

"Torture. Absolute torture," Puck groaned.

"What's torture?" an inquisitive voice asked behind him.

"Katie! Jesus Christ, you scared the shit out of me! Knock next time!"

"I did, but you didn't answer. I just wanted to say good night," Katie said, her eyes widening and filling with tears.

"Good night," Puck said briefly, shooing her to go away.

"Not to you. I wanted to say good night to Mouse before you went all mushy and gross."

"What? I don't go mushy. Besides, why would you want to say good night to my girlfriend for?" Puck asked, looking at her suspiciously.

Her cheeks reddening, Katie refused to answer. Instead, she held out her hand, and when he handed the phone over (after telling Mouse that Katie wanted to say good night), Katie bolted from the room as fast as she could. Puck yelled after her, telling her to come back, and to bring the phone back, damn it.

"Stop your swearing! Don't make me come up there, damn it!" his mother called from downstairs. "And stop yelling!" she added as an afterthought.

Muttering to himself, Puck went to Katie's room, banging on the door loudly. "Give my phone back, you little brat."

"No! And I'm **not** a brat!"

Hearing his mobile phone ringtone, Puck hurried back to his room to check the new message.

_Leave us alone for a minute. I'll call you to say good night later. Jane_.

His mother called out good night to both of them about half an hour later, but the phone still hadn't been returned. Another half hour passed before there was a timid knock on the door. By the time he opened it, Katie was gone, but the phone was sitting in front of his door innocently. Picking it up, Puck was surprised to hear that Mouse was still on the line.

"What the hell was that all about?" Puck demanded, closing the door behind him firmly.

"Calm down, Puck," Mouse said wearily. "Ever since her birthday party where she stood up for Candy, Katie's been teased at school by that little brat, Banana or whatever her name was. She's not handling it the best, and she wanted to talk to someone who wasn't you or your mother, because Katie knew that you'd both overreact."

Puck, who had been thinking of all of the diastrous things he could do to that stuck up little princess, realised that he was thinking all of this about a girl who probably wasn't even 12 years old yet, and suddenly felt like nothing more than a bully.

"I wouldn't overreact," he protested lamely.

Mouse snorted in disbelief. "Yeah, let's just skip over that lame comeback and both agree that you definitely would have overreacted if Katie had told you this herself. You'd probably be demanding to find the kid and stick her in a dumpster or something."

Puck was quiet, and his silence was damning enough.

"Anyway, just cut Katie a bit of slack, would you? She's gone from being popular, or at least popular by association, to having no friends at all, and she's taking it hard. Also, try to stop calling her a brat. It makes her feel even worse."

Remembering that he'd called her a brat only an hour before, Puck winced and felt even worse than a bully. He wasn't sure who was worse than a bully exactly, but feeling like it left his stomach twisting.

"I'm a bit exhausted after playing counsellor, so I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Sleep well, Noah," Mouse said, her words ending with a yawn.

"You too. See you then," he replied distractedly.

After hanging up, Puck simply looked at the phone for a moment, wondering just how bad his sister thought he was that she couldn't talk to him about something like this. Throwing the phone on his bed, he left his bedroom and crossed the hallway to Katie's door. His hand raised to knock, Puck stopped for a moment as he heard sobbing. Knocking on the door gently, he waited a few moments before opening it and slipping inside.

"Go - _hic_ - go away," Katie said, hugging a pillow tightly and hiccuping between her words and sobs.

"Why didn't you tell me, Katie?"

"Like - _hic_ - you - _hic, hic_ - even care," she said, sobbing more.

"Of course I care. You're my little sister. I'm meant to care and take care of you. Especially against little bitches who probably have tiaras stuck up their butts."

Katie giggled slightly, wiping at her tears. She slowly sat up, and Noah held back a wince when he saw just how awful she looked. _Thirteen years old and she was crying herself to sleep. Well, fuck, if that didn't just put his life into perspective_.

"That'd probably make her walk funnier than she already does," Katie said, giggling again.

"What was her name? Banana or something?"

Katie burst out laughing. "Ba... Banana! Nooo, her name is Bianca."

"Oh, okay. So her name's Banana? Please tell me that her favourite colour's yellow."

Peals of laughter were bursting from Katie and she couldn't stop laughing. Puck hugged her gently as her laughter turned to hysterical sobs once more.

"It's all right, Katie. You'll be fine, y'know. You're stronger than this, than them, and you should know that. You're a Puckerman, and you're my sister. That means that if anyone bothers you, then you tell me and I'll help you sort them out. I won't even hit them," he added, squeezing her gently.

Katie nodded against his chest, his shirt wet with her tears. She eventually stopped crying, and simply hugged her brother as he stroked her hair back off her forehead gently.

"Thank you, Noah. Love you," Katie murmured sleepily, her eyes closing as she was pulled into sleep.

"Love you too, Katie," Noah whispered, tucking her in gently, kissing her forehead and leaving as quietly as possible.

"Everything all right?"

"Geez, Mum! Are you trying to kill me?" he hissed, his hand on his chest.

"Don't be silly. I heard you two laughing, talking, and Katie crying. Is everything all right?"

Puck nodded briefly. "I think so, yeah."

"All right then. Just... Let me know if something's wrong, okay? You might not want me to interfere in things, but you're both still my children, and I want to know what's wrong. Or what's right, even. Too many parents are going about thinking that there's nothing wrong with their kids, that they love playing the piano, and then the kid snaps, breaks the piano in half and goes off throwing keys at people."

"What the hell sort of daytime TV are you watching, Mum?" Puck asked in concern.

"Oh, don't give me that... I mean it, Noah. I don't want to be left in the dark again, okay? It was heart breaking enough that you didn't think you could tell me about Quinn and the baby."

Seeing the betrayed and hurt expression on his mother's face, Puck sighed softly. For the second time that night, he willingly hugged a family member.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, Mum. I'll try to be a bit more open about things, all right? But I'm going to keep secrets if I have to, 'kay?"

Not entirely appeased, but supposing it was better than nothing, she nodded. "All right. You go to bed now, you've got school in the morning."

"All right. 'Night Mum," he said, kissing her cheek.

"Good night, Noah. I love you."

"You too, Mum," Puck said over his shoulder with a broad grin.

His bedroom door closed quietly, and with a sigh, his mother headed back to her own room too.

...

"Why, how now, Hecate? You look angerly.

"Have I not reason, bedlams as you are,  
Saucy and overbold?  
How did you dare  
To trade and traffic with Macbeth  
In riddles and affairs of death;  
And I, the mistress of your charms,  
The close contriver of all harms,  
Was never call'd to bear my part,  
Or show the glory of our art?"

Mouse stopped quoting Macbeth to glare at Puck, who was drawing patterns in his notebook instead of paying attention. She sighed heavily, putting a bookmark in the book and looking at him properly.

"I thought you were going to take this studying seriously?" Mouse asked, frowning at Puck.

"I am... All right, fine, I'm not. Where's your light saber?" he asked, grinning broadly.

"I'll throw it in the bin if you don't concentrate on this."

"No, you wouldn't," Puck replied knowingly. But then he figured she might, just to spite him. "All right, I'm studying. Seriously, this time," he added.

"Thank you. Now, in Macbeth, what events do the witches inspire?"

"Well, they inspire nearly all of it, because they tell Macbeth that he's going to become a Lord or whatever, and then like, five minutes later, he finds out he's been promoted to Lord, so then he thinks that everything else the witches said about him would be true too. It's his crazy-ass wife that suggested that he kill the King so they could get to the crown quicker, but without the witches giving him the idea of becoming King, I don't think Macbeth would have ever killed the King for the crown. He said that he loved the man and was devoted and loyal, and whatever else, but then he goes and sticks a knife in him the moment he can because his wife seriously wants to be Queen. Sound about right?"

Mouse was staring at Puck, looking incredulous. "You actually know about Macbeth?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, we had to watch the movie in class like ten times, and I thought it made some sense, so I read the book a few times too. You know, they miss out on some of the things in the movie, and some of it's really important," he groused. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Puck asked, frowning.

"You've actually read and understood Shakespeare; you have no idea how turned on I am right now!" she said, her tone somewhere between laughter and disbelief.

Puck grinned broadly. "Really?"

"Really-really," Mouse said, fanning herself with her book. "Damn it, if you start quoting Shakespeare, I might just melt into a puddle."

"Well, in that case...

Is this a dagger which I see before me,  
The handle toward me hand?  
Come, let me clutch thee:  
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still."

Grinning broadly, Mouse flicked through the pages of Macbeth to find where Puck was quoting from.

"Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible  
To feeling as to sight? or art thou but  
A dagger of the mind, a false creation.  
Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?  
I see thee yet, in form as palpable  
As this which now I draw."

His quoting was cut off by Mouse kissing him. Puck grinned, his hands resting against her hips, and her arms winding around his neck as they deepened the kiss eagerly.

"I'm going to read King Lear next," Puck informed her when they pulled away.

"Oh, don't tease me," Mouse said, pouting at him briefly.

"I don't tease about Shakespeare," he replied seriously, though he was grinning.

"After exams, we can read that one together if you'd like? King Lear's one of my favourites," Mouse admitted, grinning brightly.

"All right. After exams," Puck said with a nod.

Unable to resist, Mouse kissed him once more before returning back to Macbeth.

...

"Hi, welcome. Thank you for coming," Rachel said, opening the door to let Mouse in. "Is Candy coming?" she asked when she stepped inside alone.

"No, Candy's staying with Burt and Carole tonight; he was too exhausted after working on the game plays with Coach Beiste today," Mouse replied. "I brought a birthday present for you," she said, holding out the small wrapped present with a smile.

"Oh, that's wonderful. Thank you, Mouse," Rachel said, surprised that she'd brought one.

She hadn't specified that birthday presents were necessary, as she was just glad that she actually had some _real_ friends to celebrate her birthday with this year.

"I've got mattresses set up for the girls in my room, and the boys are in the lounge room," Rachel said, leading Mouse to her bedroom so she could put her bag and sleeping bag away.

"Thanks," Mouse said, throwing her things on the spare mattress.

"That's all right. I've got a lot of things planned for tonight. I hope everyone will enjoy themselves," Rachel murmured.

"I'm sure we all will," Mouse reassured her with a smile

The doorbell rang loudly and Rachel jumped in surprise. "Oh, that must be Finn, Mike, and Matt. They're the last three we're waiting on. I think everyone's in the lounge room if you'd like to go there?" Rachel offered.

Nodding, Mouse watched as Rachel all but ran out of her room to answer the door. Shaking her head slightly, she headed down to the lounge room to where the others were waiting.

"Hey," Puck said when she came in, moving over so she could sit next to him.

"Hey... Oh, wow. Rachel's really got this set up, doesn't she?" Mouse muttered, seeing the various game consoles and numerous microphone controllers that were sitting on the coffee table.

"Yeah, she let us have a look at her games. They're all Singstar and karaoke games. _Every single one_," Puck said with a low groan. "I don't mind singing, and I'll even have a turn at this, but that's a hell of a lot of singing games," he muttered.

"It won't be so bad. We can have a Halo marathon next weekend to make up for it," she promised, patting his leg.

Puck chuckled, taking her hand in his own. "Sure. But first things first... Do you have any requests?"

Mouse grinned and started looking at the game cases to find a song.

"Hey, girl, what're you doing?" Mercedes asked, coming to sit across from her at the coffee table.

"Looking for a song to make Puck sing," she replied with a grin.

"Oh, let me help? I'm sure I saw one for the Spice Girls in here," Mercedes said with a wild cackle, sorting through the games.

Puck groaned and leaned back on the lounge, just wondering what he'd gotten himself into.

"What's all your groaning about?" Finn asked, grinning down at him.

"They're going to make me sing Spice Girls."

"Oh, too bad man," Mike said with a laugh, patting him on the head condescendingly.

"Don't be so quick to laugh, Michael Chang. **I'm** choosing your song," Santana said with a smirk.

He groaned and smacked his head against Matt's shoulder.

"Oh, I can choose yours too, Matt," Brittany said cheerfully.

Matt clutched Mike, whimpering.

"We're going to be stuck singing some awfully cheesy song from the 80s, aren't we?" Artie asked with a shudder.

"Probably. Might as well give in now," Tina said cheerfully.

"Fine, I'm choosing your song then," Artie replied, rolling over to the table carefully.

"Excellent idea," Finn said with a broad grin.

"Sorry, babe, but if I have to sing something awful, then so do you," Mike said to Santana, pulling Matt over to the games.

Puck hurried over, and there was silence for a few minutes as they sorted through the games. Laughter crept in as half-remembered songs were sung in a high pitch.

Rachel came into the lounge room to see them all gathered around the coffee table, laughing and swapping games as others whispered and conspired. Setting down the tray of finger food she and her fathers had prepared earlier, Rachel moved to join in, glad that they seemed to be having fun. She was arguing over Barbara Streisand's classic and lasting songs with Mercedes when the bell rang. Frowning, Rachel left them setting up the console and TV so she could answer the door. She was just glad that her fathers were upstairs and at the other end of the house. They were having a Sex and the City marathon, and probably wouldn't hear a thing downstairs, no matter how loud she and her friends sang.

"Kurt? You made it!" Rachel said, grinning at him broadly and hugging him. "I thought you weren't coming?"

"I managed to change some things around... I invited Blaine, I hope you don't mind?" Kurt asked, blushing delicately.

It was then that she noticed Blaine standing a few paces behind Kurt, his hands behind his back as he waited with a smile and puppy-like eyes.

"Not at all. Come in; we're getting the karaoke set up," Rachel said, ushering them inside.

"I brought you a present," Kurt said.

"And I brought beer," Blaine said, grinning.

"Beer?" Rachel echoed, surprised.

"Yeah, that's what the BYOB meant, didn't it?" Blaine asked, faltering.

"It meant bag or blanket. I'm sorry, I thought I'd written that on the invitation," Rachel lamented, wringing her hands.

"Oh, man, you brought booze? _Nice_," Matt said, grinning as he swiped the two six-packs from Blaine.

The others crowded around, some reacquainting themselves with Blaine, but most curious about the alcohol. Bottles were being opened, experimental sips taken, and then entire bottles handed out with grins.

A little outside of the group, Mouse clenched her hands tightly, her eyes screwed up shut as the smell of the alcohol reminded her far too forcibly of her mother. Her stomach turned at the overwhelming and sickly scent, her muscles tightening as she waited for the accompanying onslaught of verbal or physical abuse.

"Hey, you okay, Mouse?" Puck asked, seeing her statue-like frame.

Mouse tried to answer, to say that she didn't feel well, to say that she felt like this wasn't going to end well at all, but she was too frozen to answer.

"Jane? Come on, come over here," Puck murmured, leading her to the corner of the room gently. "Are you all right?"

She shook her head, her nails digging into her palms sharply. The pain seemed to help her focus, and Mouse realised that she couldn't smell any alcohol on Puck's breath.

"I'm not happy about the alcohol being here. It reminds me of Sarah, and I feel sick. I'm just glad Candy's not here to see this. He wouldn't understand, and he'd be petrified. He associates alcohol with being hurt and to see everyone drinking like this... It would kill him," Mouse explained, not bothering to mention that her first response had been associated with pain as well. "We're underage, no one knows that we're drinking, and I don't care how prudish I sound, this is totally irresponsible. What if something happens, or someone drinks too much and has to go to hospital? No one here's going to be sober enough to drive, and that means we'll have to involve our parents. Rachel's fathers weren't happy about this party being on a Sunday, can you imagine what they'd say if they knew we were drinking behind their backs?"

"Don't worry, I'll be staying sober. I'm not really into drinking as much anymore," Puck said, looking to the Coke bottle in his hand. "And if you're uncomfortable, we can leave. Rachel won't mind," he offered.

Mouse almost said yes, that she wanted to leave right then, to get as far away from this as humanly possible.

"I'm the only one with a First Aid certificate, and after Sarah, I know how to deal with someone when they're drunk. I'll stay, if only to keep them from hurting themselves or each other," she said finally. "Just... Can you help me move the coffee table to the side? I don't think it's going to be safe there."

"It's just two six-packs; how wild do you think they're going to get?" Puck asked with a slight grin, but helped her move the coffee table anyway.

Mouse didn't say anything, but his answer came when Blaine, Mike, Finn, and Matt left a few minutes later, returning with a carton of beer each. The karaoke was finally on, and it seemed as though the first beer had loosened everyone up so that they were singing loudly and cheerfully, laughing when they got the words wrong or when they couldn't hit the right note. They were happy, and as cups were brought in, the beer continued to flow.

Seeing how uncomfortable Mouse was, Puck grabbed the microphone that was sitting on the coffee table. A few minutes later, his game was set up and ready, and with a grin, he began to sing.

"Girl you've never known no one like me,  
Up there in your high society.  
They might tell you I'm no good,  
Girl they need to understand,  
Just who I am.  
I may be a real bad boy,  
But baby I'm a real good man," Puck sang, giving Mouse a wink.

She laughed when the girls called out to him, encouraging him to keep singing.

"I may drink too much and play too loud,  
Hang out with a rough and rowdy crowd.  
That don't mean I don't respect,  
My Mama or my Uncle Sam,  
Yes sir, yes ma'am.  
I may be a real bad boy,  
But baby I'm a real good man."

Laughing, Rachel crept up behind Puck, putting a cowboy hat on him. He grinned and tipped his hat at her, turning his attention back to Mouse.

"I might have a reckless streak,  
At least a country-mile wide.  
If you're gonna run with me,  
It's gonna be a wild ride.  
When it comes to loving you,  
I've got velvet hands. (Here, Mouse blushed and bit her lip. _Damn, he'd have to tell her how that drove him crazy_.)  
I'll show you how a real bad boy,  
Can be a real good man," Puck finished singing.

A score came up on the screen, one he could care less about, and the microphone was taken away as Mike and Artie set up their own game.

"Feeling a bit better?" Puck asked Mouse quietly.

"A little. Thanks for that," she said, kissing his cheek.

He grinned, took his hat off and put it on her head. She smiled up at him, her fingers lacing through his.

"Just shoot for the stars,  
If it feels right.  
Then aim for my heart,  
If you feel like it.  
Take me away,  
I'll make it okay,  
I swear I'll behave," Artie sang, grinning.

"You wanted control,  
So we waited.  
I put on a show,  
Now I make it.  
You say I'm a kid,  
My ego is big,  
I don't give a shit," Mike said, his eyes wide as he put his hand over his mouth mockingly.

"And it goes like this..."

"Take me by the tongue,  
And I'll know you.  
Kiss me 'til you're drunk,  
And I'll show you.  
All the moves like Jagger.  
I've got the,  
Moves like Jagger.  
I've got the,  
Moves like Jagger."

Artie continued to sing, Mike dancing along with the character on the screen as everyone else clapped along to the song's beat.

As the night progressed, the mood started to change. It was subtle at first, with Mercedes and Tina laughing to each other, although no one knew what was funny. Then it continued with Santana bursting into tears when one of the guys jeered at her for singing something wrong; Quinn started arguing with Finn over the song he'd picked for her; Brittany sat on Matt's lap, undoing her shirt as she hummed a striptease; and Rachel started to demand attention, clinging onto whoever looked at her long enough.

Though her stomach had settled, and she'd finally stopped feeling sick at the smell of the alcohol, Mouse couldn't bring herself to have any (_hypocrite, hypocrite, hypocrite, hypocrite_, the mantra played in her head, louder than any karaoke song), and she just watched her friends spiral down into their own private hells.

Mouse made sure that they all had a glass of water before going to sleep (some only accepted it when she said it was vodka); calmed Quinn down when she got angry, deflecting sharp words and loud noises; she left Santana with some chocolates and tissues; made sure that Brittany didn't expose herself further; and drew Rachel's attention away from whoever she'd gained it from last. Mercedes and Tina had fallen asleep against each other, and she'd coaxed them away from the lounge onto the mattresses on the floor.

When everyone was settled on the mattresses, blankets and pillows finally in the correct places, Mouse moved to where Puck was dozing, slipping onto the mattress beside him. He opened an eye to make sure it wasn't Rachel, grinning slightly when he saw Mouse's short hair. Pressing a kiss to her neck, Puck held her a bit closer and settled down to sleep.

...

End of chapter twenty-eight.

Thanks for reading. I hope you liked it!


	29. Chapter 29

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee. I do own Jane, Candy and Sarah though.

_Read on, oh faithful ones_...

...

Chapter Twenty-Nine

...

The morning seemed too bright to most of them. Blaine and Kurt had disappeared some time during the night, and a text from the latter to Mouse revealed that he'd taken Blaine to his house so they could get back to Dalton faster than from Rachel's house.

"Too much sugar last night, kids?" Scott, one of Rachel's father's asked with a grin.

Rachel gave a quick nod, closing her eyes as the motion made her feel nauseous. Ian, her other father, didn't seem to believe that they all looked nauseous and sensitive simply due to too much sugar.

"I'll take Rachel and the girls," Ian said, making it very clear that they would be talking about just what had happened.

"All right, I'll take the boys. Do you want breakfast before we go? There's still enough time for toast, or cereal?" Scott offered.

A groan rolled through most of them, and Mercedes slipped her sunglasses on, ignoring the fact that they were inside and the light was dim.

"I wouldn't mind some toast, please? Everyone else can have juice. It'll help settle their stomachs after so much sugar," Mouse added.

"Toast would be good," Puck agreed, his stomach rumbling.

"I'll make your breakfast up, and you can organise the juices," Ian said, leading both to the kitchen. When they were inside and out of earshot of the others, he looked at them sternly. "Just what happened last night? By the smell that's oozing out of the lot of you, I'd say that alcohol was involved. Did you get into our liquor cupboard?"

"No, sir, we didn't get into your liquor cupboard," Mouse replied. "As to the rest of it, I would prefer that you talked to Rachel... Do you mind if I get the juices?"

"Fridge is there behind you," he said with a nod. "Glasses are in the cupboard to the right."

"Thank you," she replied, turning to get it organised.

Puck was silent as he helped Mouse get the glasses out. When she'd finished pouring two glasses, he left to give them to his friends, continuing until they all had a glass. They were silent as they drank the juice, and Scott looked a little confused by their overwhelming silence. Puck returned to the kitchen to eat breakfast. At Ian's insistence, both he and Mouse took small bags of trail mix for everyone. He said that it would help settle and absorb the alcohol that they may or may not have consumed. Ian also muttered that Rachel would be grounded until further notice, even if his single-malt scotch was still safe and locked away.

They left the house quietly. Tina was sitting on Artie's lap, her head buried in his shoulder when the sunlight hit them. He was wincing at the brightness himself and almost ran into Scott's car.

"Definitely time to get going," Ian muttered. "Come on, ladies, let's go before Scott has a coronary over his beloved car."

They grinned a little as they filed into the small van. The second van was filled with the boys in a matter of minutes, and they left the driveway soon after.

"Why do you own a van for the three of you? It's not a rental from what I can see," Mouse said, peering at the dashboard.

"Rachel's extra curricular activities often involve driving a lot of people around. Or a lot of costumes. There was a time when she refused to leave the house with no less than three spare outfits in case the weather changed," Ian said with a grin, glancing in the rear view mirror to look at his daughter.

Rachel was resting her head against Quinn's shoulder, her eyes covered with dark sunglasses.

"How about some music for the drive?" Ian asked, pressing a button on the stereo.

_Oh, sweetheart put the bottle down,  
__You've got too much talent.  
__I see you through those bloodshot eyes,  
__There's a cure, you've found it..._

"No, Daddy. It's too loud. Turn it off. Please," Rachel groaned.

Ian almost swerved the van off the road in surprise. As it was, he pulled over to the side of the road, his hazard lights on immediately. Taking off his belt, he twisted around in his seat to look at Rachel in shock.

"What do you mean 'turn it off'? You made me put the radio on when you broke your leg and arm and had to be taken away in an ambulance!" Ian stared at her for a moment. "What on earth happened last night?"

Santana burst into tears, and Brittany wrapped an arm around her shoulders, Mouse offering her tissues from the front seat. Rachel went red, but couldn't meet her father's eyes, even through the sunglasses.

"Kurt came over with his boyfriend last night, and he thought the BYOB meant beer, not blanket..." Rachel said, her voice soft. "We drank the beer, and then the boys got more, and we drank it all. Please, Daddy, don't be angry with me. I just feel so sick right now, and I'm so sorry, just please don't be angry."

"I'm not angry, Rachel. I'm _disappointed_ in you. Do you understand how careless it was to do what you did? Do you even know how many drinks you consumed last night?" He continued when she was silent, unable to give a definite answer, "You could have had alcohol poisoning; you could have hurt yourself; you could have done any number of stupid things while under the influence of alcohol, and you could have hurt others. I understand about peer pressure, Rachel, but this was just plain _irresponsible_. I thought your Dad and I taught you better than this."

Santana was still crying, and Rachel felt like she could burst into tears alongside her at any moment. Her Daddy's disappointment was worse than his anger, the result making her stomach feel like it was twisting into hundreds of knots, all of those knots aflame inside of her.

"I'm sorry, Daddy," she said, choking on her words.

Ian didn't reply, but simply drove back onto the road once more and took them to school in silence.

...

"Why are _you_ smiling?" Quinn muttered to Puck as she got out of the van to see him looking ridiculously happy. She might not have been the subject of Ian's disappointment, but she'd felt it as if it was her own father in the front seat; his disappointment over her pregnancy replaying in her head all over again.

"I got good news on the way over," Puck said, shrugging.

When he didn't elaborate, Quinn just shook her head and muttered about getting cryptic answers too early in the morning, moving past him to get into the school. The rest of the girls filed past, all of them feeling as bad as Santana and Rachel looked. Puck grabbed Mouse's hand, waiting until the others had all left to say something.

"I've got really good news," Puck murmured into her ear.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I'm clean," he said, grinning.

It took Mouse a moment to realise just what Puck was talking about, and she grinned at him.

"Congratulations, Puck," she said, kissing him.

He tried to deepen the kiss, but Mouse pulled away with a laugh.

"Just because you're clean, it doesn't mean we're going to have sex right now. Come on, I don't want to be late for English," Mouse said, tugging on his hand and leading Puck up to the school.

He rolled his eyes, but grinned and let her lead him away.

...

"All right, you've all got the next week off in order to prepare and study for your final exams. I know you'll want to go off and party straight away, but please try to resist until after you've finished. You need this time to prepare mentally for the three-hour exams. You have no idea what questions the exams will ask, so you have to learn everything,"

Jefferson took a moment to look over the class, to ensure that they were actually listening to what he was saying. He just hoped that they would take it to heart.

"You already know your required reading for the English exam, which is Shakespeare's Macbeth, and you have a set of questions from last year's exam. Today, you'll be going over these questions and seeing if you can answer them correctly. Think of it as a mock exam, so yes, that means no talking. In fact, all of you can switch your phones off right now."

A groan of annoyance went through the room and he glared at the students briefly.

"It's either you turn them off, or I keep them up here for the rest of the lesson. I just said that this is a _mock exam_. In an exam you can't have your phone on your person, turned on or off, so just be thankful that I'm still allowing you to keep it. Come on, the sooner you start, the sooner you'll be able to leave," Jefferson added. "If you have any questions, raise your hand and I'll come to help you, okay? No, that doesn't mean I'll give you the answer."

Mouse turned her phone off, slipping it back into her pocket immediately. She felt nervous about the mock exam, her head already trying to guess what sort of questions she might or might not have to answer. She let out a shaky breath, waiting for Mr. Jefferson to hand out the mock exam papers.

"Don't look so sick, all of you. This isn't the exam you have to worry about," Jefferson said, going along the tables and putting the papers in front of them.

"These aren't the exams you're looking for," Puck said, waving his hand and chuckling.

Mouse grinned slightly at his joke, not feeling as tense and shaky now.

"All right. Begin... now," Jefferson called, his eyes on the clock.

Opening to the first page, Mouse picked up her pencil and started to read the questions.

...

"I know that Regionals are over, but I still think it's important for you to practice your singing. It's a way to relieve tension," Schuester added, looking over them.

"Unless there's a song that relates our entire course load over five subjects, I seriously doubt any tension's going to be relieved," Santana muttered.

"Ah, all right then... Well, I have good news for you, that might make up for it. Since you all did such a great job at Regionals, Principal Figgins has requested that you sing at graduation!"

There was a moment of silence, each of them thinking about the pros and cons of this request. Candy lit up brightly and put his hand up, waving it a bit to get Schuester's attention.

"Yes, Candy?"

"Can sweet sing if sweet's not graduating?" he asked, worrying at his lip.

"Of course. You're part of Glee club, aren't you?" Will said, grinning at him.

Candy grinned brightly and clapped in excitement. "Can sweet wear a cap too?"

"I'll let you wear mine, sweetie," Mouse offered.

"No, that's Mousie's!" he said, eyes wide with seriousness.

"Well... Maybe Mrs. Komp will let you make your own cap in class?" she suggested.

"Oooh! Sweet can make it mascot colours!" he said excitedly. "Sweet has to go!" he called, leaving the choir room quickly.

Will seemed surprised at his sudden departure, but figured that Candy had given them all a reason to sing at graduation now, and deserved the time off. _It wasn't like they really had to practice anyway_.

"So what do you all plan on doing after school? Before college," Schue asked the group, attempting a smile.

"Get a job, earn money," Artie said, shrugging.

"Earn a _lot_ of money," Puck added with a slight grin.

"Work, get money," Finn said in agreement.

"Become a billionaire," Mercedes said, laughing.

"Money, money, money,  
Must be funny in a rich man's world.  
Money, money, money,  
Always sunny in a rich man's world," the girls sang.

"I wanna be a billionaire so very bad,  
Buy all of the things I never had.  
I wanna be on the cover of Forbes magazine,  
Smiling next to Oprah and the Queen," the guys sang, Mike and Matt high-fiving each other.

They all sang together, Will joining in as well.

"All the things I could do,  
If I had a little money,  
It's a rich man's world.

"Every time I close my eyes,  
I see my name in shining lights.  
A different city every night.  
I swear, the world better prepare,  
For when I'm a billionaire."

...

At lunch, Mouse saw the rest of the Glee members sneak off with Artie, something about red cups being whispered between them. She frowned slightly, and looked to Puck beside her, who looked just as confused and shrugged.

"Mousie? Where are they going?" Candy asked, looking between her and Puck, and the group ahead of them.

"I'm not sure, Candy. But wherever they're going, they're getting there fast," she muttered, seeing that the others were already nowhere in sight.

"Hey, Mouse. Do you have a minute?" Will called, jogging over to them.

"Yes, Mr. Schue?"

"Alone, if you don't mind? We can go to my office," Will offered.

Surprised, Mouse nodded reluctantly. Candy still didn't look pleased at the Glee members going off without him, and Mouse's departure would set off a tantrum on an epic scale. He folded his arms over his chest, pouting and glaring at the same time.

"Hey, come on, Candy kid. Let's go see who's at the bleachers. Terrence is probably worried about you," Puck added.

At Terrence's name, Candy's expression softened and his arms fell to his sides. "Why can't sweet go with Mousie too?"

"Mr. Schuester probably wants to talk with me about the Spanish exam, right, Mr. Schue?"

Realising that he was being offered a very tidy solution, Will nodded enthusiastically. "Right. Verbs, adjectives, all of that boring stuff. Why don't you go out and enjoy the sunshine, Candy?" he added gently, smiling at him.

Candy didn't look as though he believed them, but let Puck lead him outside anyway, looking back over his shoulder.

"This won't take long, Mouse," Will promised, leading her away.

"Uh, Mr. Schue? Where are we going? Your office is down that hallway," Mouse said in confusion as they passed the hallway completely.

"This is a shortcut."

_What the hell was going on_?

Will glanced about surreptitiously before opening a door and ushering her inside. Mouse stopped short on seeing that she was inside of the staff room. She was more surprised to see that Coach Sylvester, Ms. Lemay, and Principal Figgins were sitting at the same table - let alone in the same room - without someone sustaining a permanent injury. Mr. Jefferson, Emma, and Coach Beiste were there too, and in the background were the rest of the McKinley staff, all of them smiling at her knowingly. It was downright _creepy_.

"They couldn't decide whose office to go to, so the staff room was renamed Switzerland," Will muttered in explanation. Then he cleared his throat slightly and moved to sit between Coach Sylvester and Principal Figgins. He indicated to the single seat across from them. "Take a seat, Mouse, and we'll get started."

"Get started on what, exactly?" Mouse asked. Seeing that she didn't have much choice, she sat down on the seat.

"For the first time in a long time. Years, even. Since before I started working here," Figgins added, musing.

"Get to the point, Figgins," Sylvester muttered, showing that Switzerland definitely wasn't a place without hostility.

"Yes, yes... The staff of McKinley High have come to a unanimous decision and you have been elected to be put on our Honour Roll," Figgins said proudly, sitting up a little straighter.

"But, sir... We don't **have** an Honour Roll," Mouse said, wondering just what the hell was in their coffee. _Maybe they'd all been switched to decaf_?

"Exactly! You will be the _first_ Honour Roll student at William McKinley High School," Figgins exclaimed, folding his hands on the table before him and waiting for her response.

...

"You all right, Mouse?" Puck asked, frowning when he saw her somewhat dazed expression. "Jane?" he said, concerned when she didn't answer his question.

"Hmm?" she asked, blinking and looking at him, as if surprised that he was before her, or that she was even outside.

"Are you okay?" he repeated, moving to feel her place a hand on her cheek.

"What are you doing?" she asked with a frown.

"Feeling for a temperature."

Jane laughed softly, taking his hand and moving it up to her forehead. "You put your hand on a person's forehead or the back of their neck to feel for a temperature. But I'm fine."

"Hmm, I think I should double-check," Noah murmured, his hand moving to caress her cheek before slipping behind her head to rest on the back of her neck gently. "So how hot is someone meant to be to have a temperature, anyway?"

"Well, you don't have a thermometer, so feel your own forehead then check against mine," Jane said, her eyes hooded as he stroked her neck.

"Hmm, you're boiling. I think I should take you home," he murmured, grinning slightly.

"We've got a mock exam for Spanish next. You wouldn't be trying to avoid that, would you?" Mouse asked, opening her eyes and looking at him pointedly.

"Can you blame me for trying?" Puck asked, cupping her cheek and kissing her with a grin.

Grinning a little herself, Mouse kissed him back, her arms wound around his waist. "Come on, you can sing to me in Spanish while I finally have my lunch," she said, leading him to the bleachers.

Candy realised that Mouse had arrived and hurried over, tugging Terrence along with him.

"Mousie! Sweet can throw the ball! Even better than Lee," he said proudly, waving Terrence back a few steps.

Terrence moved back obligingly, and they all watched Candy as he held the ball carefully, his tongue sticking out with concentration. With a loud _oof_ of noise, Candy swung the ball and let go, the ball sailing up into the air. Terrence actually had to run back to catch it, and jogged back to the bleachers, looking as proud as Candy.

"Well, he's right about throwing better than me. But I'm not meant to _throw_ the ball anyway. I'm meant to _catch_ it," Lee muttered, sitting next to Puck as Candy and Terrence continued to throw the ball to each other.

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that, Lee. One day, Candy's going to be taking _your_ position on the team," Puck said, chuckling.

Lee shook his head with a grin, and they all kept watching as Candy and Terrence played, Candy catching the ball and running away from Terrence, giggling wildly.

...

"Hair of the dog. Best way to get rid of a hangover," Artie murmured, pouring a generous amount of alcohol in everyone's red cups.

He'd gone to the staff lounge before class when the teachers were in their home groups and Figgins was busy counting the school funds, and raided the cupboard that he knew they kept their weekly 'Friday afternoon staff meeting alcohol' in. Apparently, Coach Sylvester and Ms. Lemay could only be in the same room with a large amount of booze involved.

"Are you sure?" Mercedes asked, the swirling liquid making her stomach feel all ... _sloshy_.

"Positive. My cousin swears by it," he replied authoritatively.

Mercedes felt light-headed, her eyes stinging in the minimum light of the choir room, and if having another drink was meant to get rid of the awful pounding in her head, then she'd do it. Even if she felt like she'd be sick if she had another drink. Everyone else was already drinking, their eyes closed tightly and sour expressions on their faces. Mercedes sighed and lifted the cup to take a drink. The smell reached her before she could take a drink, and she paled on realising that _no, drinking this would definitely _**_not_**_ help her_. She ran from the choir room to find the nearest bathroom.

"Oh god, I think I'm going to be sick," Tina groaned, running out after Mercedes.

The mention of being sick did things to Brittany's stomach and head, and she ran out after them, Rachel following almost immediately. Quinn was sitting on a chair, her head between her knees, her breathing slow and her body trembling as if she was cold, despite the warm room. Santana was pale and slumped against the back bench, sobbing into her hands as she tried not to pass out.

"Are you sure that was alcohol, man?" Mike asked, his head swimming as he ran out of the choir room.

Matt and Finn ran after him, both groaning and holding their stomachs. Artie doubted that he'd reach the bathroom in time and rolled out to the closest rubbish bin. A disgusted and horrified screech sounded behind him as he heaved into the bin, but he was too preoccupied to worry about the banshee.

A matter of minutes later had Mr. Schuester, Emma, Coach Sylvester and Beiste, and Principal Figgins leaving the staff room to discover nearly all of the Glee club in various stages of alcohol poisoning. The discarded bottle of whiskey was found in the choir room almost instantly, along with the collection of red cups and two very sick Cheerios - Quinn shaking and Santana on the verge of passing out completely.

Emma rushed over to them, helping Santana to sit up properly and wrapping her cardigan around Quinn's shoulders. She asked Beiste to bring water and some of the fire blankets from the nurse's station, and with a nod, the woman left quickly. She returned in a matter of minutes, arms full with blankets, and a large jug of water clutched at the front precariously. When they were each wrapped in a blanket and sipping at their drinks (the bin was dragged into the room in case they needed to use it), Emma and Beiste left to call an ambulance as well as the students' parents.

"Remember when Jane showed that video of DUI accidents at the staff meeting last year?" Coach Sylvester asked with a chuckle, taking the bottle off the desk and dumping it in the bin.

Figgins shuddered at the memory, images of crushed cars, impaled bodies, split skulls, and limbs hanging on by threads of skin (or in one memorable case, sitting a metre away from the person in the car entirely) replaying in his mind, despite the amount of times he'd tried to suppress them.

"Yeah, that's the last drinking session we had at school," Schuester muttered, his stomach turning at the memory as well. "I thought we threw all of the alcohol out after that?"

"I kept a bottle in case I ever needed to poison the lot of you just to get some peace and quiet," Sue replied, shrugging carelessly. "I did keep it under lock and key, so these little bastards have been stealing as well as trespassing in the staff lounge."

"So... We won't have to pay for their hospital bills?" Figgins asked hopefully.

"No idea, check with a lawyer. But I do know that if this lot don't get better quickly, they're all going to have to repeat senior year. And if that happens, I plan on making them go through **Hell**," Sue said, turning and leaving the group of students and staff without another word.

Will turned to look at his students, his disappointment all too clear on his face. "Emma and Coach Beiste have gone to call your parents as well as an ambulance. You're all probably going to need to get your stomachs pumped. We can't try to get you to throw up the alcohol yourselves, because with this alcohol poisoning your gag reflexes won't be working properly and you might choke to death on your own vomit," he informed them, ignoring the winces of disgust. "Just be thankful that Regionals are already over. Could you imagine a Glee club who can't sing because their throats have been permanently damaged with pumping tubes?"

"Will we be able to sing at graduation?" Rachel asked fearfully, her eyes wide.

"Who knows? And honestly, who really cares?" Will asked, leaving without looking back.

...

"The whole school's talking about it. There's a rumour that you all had a chilli eating contest, thanks to that Suzie Pepper girl and someone almost _died_. Of course, my favourite one was about all of the girls being possessed, and how the exorcism resulted in the girl's bathroom looking like something out of the Exorcist," Puck said.

"Oh, I don't know; I thought the one about them getting alcohol poisoning and destroying two school bathrooms and a bin was the best one. Of course, that's also the truth, so it probably won't be believed over the rest of the rumours. Unless someone put pictures of you all looking absolutely plastered on Facebook," Mouse said, looking to each of their friends.

They all looked like shit, their eyes bloodshot and teary, their bodies hunched, and they were all dressed in hospital gowns that didn't help the washed out colour of their faces at all. Every single one of them looked like they'd been dragged through hell itself by their tonsils. A thick tube had been forced down their throats, scraping the sensitive vocal cords, and man-made machines pumped out the alcohol in their stomachs.

"Thanks to your little stunt, you've all missed the mock exams we did at school today, so you now get the pleasure of doing them in hospital. Good luck with it," Mouse said, her tone far more sarcastic and dry than any of them had ever heard before.

"Why are _you_ so upset?" Quinn muttered.

"Yeah, you weren't the one who got their stomach pumped," Finn added.

"No, but I'm the one who has to go out there and explain to my brother why all of you are in hospital. I have to explain why he can't sing at graduation, and I'm the one who'll deal with the repercussions of this for a lot longer than any of you will. He's going to be traumatised by this; you all know what Sarah does to him when she drinks, yet all of you are meant to be his friends, and he's not going to be able to know how to process this. Candy is going to be too terrified to come near any of you for weeks, maybe even the rest of the _year_. He hates alcohol more than I do, and you know what? He is going to be so _disappointed_ in you, even more so than any of your parents, if any of them even give a shit about what you've done. So, no, I didn't get my stomach pumped, but I have _every_ fucking reason to be upset."

Mouse left the room, ignoring the sobs coming from most of the girls. She couldn't go into the waiting room, not to where Candy was waiting, his confusion and innocence showing so clearly in his face. He might have heard the rumours at school, but he wouldn't have known which one to believe. She just couldn't believe that they'd done this to her, to him, to **themselves**. _Didn't they have more _**_sense_**_ than this_?

She felt arms encircling her body, and opened her tear-filled eyes to see Puck before her. He hugged her without saying a thing, and Mouse cried into his shirt, feeling helpless, useless, betrayed, stupid, and any number of things that she couldn't hope to name.

...

Candy's eyes widened in alarm when he saw that Mouse had been crying, his bottom lip trembling as he got teary-eyed too. "Are... They... Okay?" he asked between a sudden onslaught of hiccups.

"They're all very sore at the moment, sweetie. They had something put down their mouths to help them get something bad out of their tummies," Mouse explained, trying to think of a way to tell Candy what had happened.

"Can sweet show them his cap?" he asked, looking at the slightly-squished graduation cap he'd been holding ever since leaving school.

"Sure, come on, sweetie," Mouse said, taking his hand and leading him to the room.

The school had organised to have all of the students placed in the same room, as a preemptive to any lawsuits that the parents might try to slap on their wrists. Each of the parents had been made very aware of the fact that the alcohol had been kept for memorial purposes only, had been locked up in the staff room, and that the school was in no way at fault.

As Mouse approached the room, she realised that she was still too upset and angry at all of them. She couldn't bring herself to go in, not even with Candy by her side. She opened her mouth, trying to think of something to say, to tell her brother that they had to go without seeing their friends. Puck stepped forward and took her hand from Candy's gently.

"Mouse doesn't feel well right now, so I'm going to take her back to the waiting room, okay? Do you think you can go into the room by yourself, Candy? I'm sure they'd all love to see you," Puck said offering him a smile.

"Sweet is a big boy now," he said proudly, smiling.

"Yes, you are. Call if you need me, okay?" Puck said.

Candy nodded, feeling important, and big and brave. He watched as Puck led Mouse away, then turned and looked into the room carefully, a sad look on his face when he saw that all of the girls were crying and the boys looked sad enough to cry soon too. He hoped they'd feel better when they saw his graduation cap. With that in mind, Candy smiled brightly and stepped into the room, the cap on his head proudly.

"Sweet finished his cap!" he said, smiling at each of them in turn, his best and brightest smile.

Worryingly, the girls just seemed to cry even more, and the boys turned away from him, tears leaking onto their pillows. Biting his lip, Candy tried to think of something to make them smile again.

"Sweet knows a song to sing at graduation!" he announced, but not even Rachel seemed interested.

His eyes filled with tears - _he'd tried his best, and it wasn't good enough_! - and Candy sank down onto the floor, his knees up to his chest as he sobbed along with the chorus. He called for Puck loudly, his words choked with his tears.

It didn't take long for Puck to realise that something was wrong, and when he left Mouse sitting in the waiting room, he heard the loud crying long before he reached the room. He ran up the corridor, his mind filled with the worst case scenario, and flung the door open to see everyone crying, Candy sitting in the middle of the beds, sobbing for him. An indescribable emotion overcame him and Noah swooped into the room, picked Candy up and carried him out.

"It's all right, Candy. I've got you. I'm here now. I'm here now, I've got you," Noah murmured over and over, his hand stroking Candy's hair gently.

Jane paled on seeing her brother in Puck's arms, hurrying over as fast as she could. "Is he all right?"

"I think he's just a bit emotional; everyone was crying in there and that probably set him off too," he replied quietly. "Come on, let's get you both home," Noah murmured, still holding onto Candy carefully.

Jane nodded and followed him out to his car without a word. Candy was set down in the backseat gently, the seatbelt wrapped around him. Jane sat next to him, and he turned into her body immediately, crying against her shirt. Apart from Candy's sobs, the trip to Jane's house was a silent one. Candy refused to get out of the car unless Noah carried him inside. Once he was set down on his feet, Candy wiped at his eyes and tugged on Jane's hand, asking for a movie. She let him lead her upstairs, tucked him into bed with his plush Bullseye horse and set _Toy Story_ up for him to watch. He held onto Bullseye tightly, tears still falling every now and then, and fell asleep halfway through the movie.

"Are you all right, Jane?" Noah asked softly when she came back downstairs, standing off the lounge and moving to her.

She went to say that she was fine, that she was just tired, but Jane found herself shaking her head and drawing him into a hug. Noah wrapped his arms around her gently.

"Stay with me? Please," Jane added, her voice cracking.

"Always," Noah murmured, pressing a kiss to her forehead softly.

He guided her over to the lounge and sat down, pulling Jane onto his lap carefully, his arms around her once more.

...

End of the twenty-ninth chapter.

Thank you for reading. I hope you liked it!


	30. Chapter 30

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee, only Jane, Sarah, and Candy.

_Read on, oh faithful ones_...

...

Chapter Thirty

...

"I'm sorry, but you'll never be able to sing again. Rachel Berry, your career as a singer has come to an end. Also, there was a problem with the surgery," the doctor said, turning a mirror to face her.

Rachel looked at her reflection, saw a multitude of tubes sticking out of her throat and mouth, and screamed. The nightmare didn't end there though, as the doctor didn't seem finished with his monologue.

"We've tried every substance and liquid possible, but we were unable to clean your hands," he added, glancing down at her hands.

Looking away from the mirror, her mind still ringing with her scream, Rachel saw the blood that stained her hands. She looked up to the doctor, only to see a stage before her. A single spotlight shone directly onto the stage, and she could see Candy lying there, a knife plunged in his back and blood pooling around him. It was his blood that was on her hands.

Waking up with a brief scream, Rachel put her hand to her throat, goosebumps covering her arms. She sighed in relief when she realised that there were no tubes, and glanced to her hands to see that they were free of blood. It had just been an awful, awful nightmare.

"Rachel, are you all right?" Ian asked, looking into her room, his hair sticking up at odd angles and his eyes still somewhat closed.

"Fine. Just a nightmare. Sorry, Daddy," Rachel said quietly.

Ian rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, sighing and making his way into her room. "You've had a nightmare every night since leaving the hospital. What's wrong, Rachel?"

She looked down at her bedspread, trying to find a way to put her nightmare into words.

"I keep dreaming that my throat has tubes sticking out of it, but they're permanently there and I can never sing again," she whispered. "But that's not the worst of it... I've been so guilty about Candy not being able to sing at the graduation that I keep seeing him dead with a knife in the back, and I'm covered in his blood, and it's just so _horrible_, Daddy. What can I do to make it right?" Rachel asked, looking up at him with tears in her eyes.

Ian hadn't really expected her to say anything to him - she hadn't explained her nightmares in the last four days, after all - and was slightly stunned by her intensity, especially this early in the morning. "Well... Have you apologised to him?"

"No. I haven't been at school, and I'm still grounded," Rachel said, shrugging.

"Since when has _that_ stopped you from ringing someone? You know Jane's number, don't you?"

Rachel didn't have an answer to that, so she simply nodded and reached for her phone.

"It's two in the morning, you can't ring now," Ian said quickly.

"Oh, right. Thank you, Daddy. Sorry for waking you," Rachel said, hugging him.

"It's all right. It's been a while since you've woken me up this early in the morning though. I might need something warm to help me sleep. Would you like a honey drink for your throat?"

She nodded gratefully, her throat still feeling scratchy. Ian left quietly, but when he still hadn't returned ten minutes later, Rachel left her room to find him. She tied her fluffy robe around her body a little tighter, trying to keep her body warm so she wouldn't catch a chill on top of everything else. Ian was sitting at the kitchen bench, his head dropped forward onto his chest as he dozed lightly.

"Oh, Daddy. You're going to hurt your neck like that," Rachel murmured softly. She moved up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Daddy. Time for bed," she said.

"Rach? I... Sorry, I was getting your drink," Ian said drowsily. "Must've fallen asleep."

"It's all right. Come on, I'll take you upstairs," Rachel said with a soft smile, helping him stand.

Ian might have protested her help had he not been so exhausted, and he nodded, letting his little girl lead him up to his room. Rachel tucked him in, kissed his forehead lightly and then left the room as quietly as she could, not wanting to disturb either of her sleeping parents. Going back down to the kitchen, Rachel finished making her honey drink, sipping at the sweet liquid as she headed back up to her own room to sleep.

...

"I'm sorry to call you so early, Mouse, but I was wondering if Candy was available to talk to?"

Mouse had been surprised to see Rachel calling her this early before school, but at her words, the surprise turned to a stunned silence.

"Uhh... Just a sec," she said, finally able to string some words together. "Candy! Phone call for you!" Mouse called, knocking on his door.

He opened the door in a matter of seconds, his shirt hanging off his arm loosely. "For sweet?" Candy asked in confusion.

"It's Rachel," she replied with a nod, handing the phone to him.

Candy took it in two hands carefully, holding it against his ear. "Hello?"

"Hi, Candy. How are you?" Rachel asked, suddenly feeling nervous.

"Sad. Schuie says sweet can't sing at graduation because you all were in hospital. Are you okay?"

"No, not really," she replied honestly. "I'm sorry, Candy. I'm so sorry about this, and I wish I could make it up to you somehow," she said, her voice breaking with her emotion.

"Will you be at school today?"

"No, I'm sorry, Candy. I won't be able to come in today."

"Will you be at the game? There's a big surprise!" Candy said excitedly.

"I'll try, Candy. I really will," Rachel promised, wondering if her suspension and grounding included school-related activities..

"Do or do not, there is no try," Candy replied, giggling.

"Okay, Yoda, time to get ready for school," Mouse said, holding out her hand for the phone.

Saying goodbye to Rachel, Candy gave the phone back to his sister carefully and returned to his earlier task of putting his shirt on.

"Don't forget pants, sweetie," Mouse called as she left his room. "Still there, Rachel?"

"Yes... I'm so sorry, Mouse."

"Yeah, I figured you would be. Thanks for talking to Candy. He doesn't understand exactly why he's not allowed to sing at graduation, but he's been worried about everyone being in hospital at the same time."

"What did you tell him?" Rachel asked hesitantly. She hadn't heard any disappointment in Candy's voice, apart from not being able to sing at graduation, and she hoped that he didn't think less of her.

Mouse sighed. "I haven't had the heart to tell him anything yet. I just couldn't, not when he was so distraught over not being able to sing at graduation. He's only just calming down about that, and I can't think of a way to tell him the truth that isn't going to make him even more upset."

Rachel was silent for a moment, wishing she had the courage to tell Candy herself. "I'm sorry, Mouse. I won't ever drink again."

"Don't say that, Rachel. You'll probably drink again, but I'd believe you more if you said you weren't going to drink so irresponsibly from now on. I don't want to see you go through that again any more than you do."

"Okay, I'll drink more responsibly next time. And I'll check the use by date," Rachel added with a humourless laugh.

"Good idea," Mouse deadpanned. "So how's your studying going?"

Rachel was silent for a moment, and that was enough of an answer for Mouse.

"You're having trouble remembering everything too?"

"Yes," Rachel admitted. "I've been trying to do a few of the old exams so I can get an idea on the type of questions we'll be asked, but it's like it's all in a foreign language."

"You're not looking at the Spanish exam, are you?" Mouse asked with a slight laugh.

"I haven't even _looked_ at Spanish yet," Rachel said, sounding distraught.

"How about you ask your dads' if you can come over here to study? Puck's coming over, and Kurt's bringing Blaine over this afternoon. They're working on the same books for English, so I thought it'd be good to study together."

"They're not bringing any drinks, are they?"

"Definitely not. I made that a very clear stipulation before I agreed to them coming over," Mouse said.

"I'm still grounded, but I'll see what I can do. It really _would_ help to study with someone else," Rachel mused.

"All right, I'll see if I can invite the others over as well. You'll let me know if you can make it?"

"Yeah, I will. Goodbye, Mouse. Hope to see you soon," she said, smiling briefly.

"Good luck," Mouse said, hanging up a moment later. "Candy, are you ready?" she called out, heading over to his room.

Candy opened the door proudly, his shirt and pants on properly. "Mousie will tie sweet's shoes, please?"

"All right," Mouse said with a warm smile, moving to tie his shoes tightly.

"Thank you, Mousie," he said, hugging her.

"You're welcome. I'll make your lunch while you eat breakfast, then I'll walk you to school, okay?" Mouse offered.

Candy nodded quickly and followed her downstairs eagerly.

...

"Going out now, sweetie. Be good, and keep up with your studies!" Sarah called as she headed downstairs to leave the house.

"Where are you going?" Mouse asked, looking over the stair railing.

"Tennis game with the girls and shopping. Jen can't stop raving about her new coach, and we're all looking forward to seeing if her game's finally improved," Sarah replied, rolling her eyes.

"Okay then. Could you bring some groceries home for dinner since you're going shopping, please?"

"Ugh, fine. What do you want?"

"Spaghetti, sauce, and mince, please. I'll make spaghetti for dinner for Candy and me, if you're going out tonight?"

"Of course I am, it's late night shopping. I have to find something perfect for Friday's dance night, and the rest of the weekend," Sarah said, as if it her plans and reasonings were completely justified and obvious.

"All right. Have fun at tennis. Don't forget the stuff for spaghetti," Mouse called as Sarah left the house, the door slamming closed behind her.

...

"Hey, Mouse. Everything all right?" Puck asked when he picked up the phone.

"Fine. Sarah's gone for the day, and Candy's safe at school. You still want to come over to study?"

"Yeah, sure. Are Kurt and Blaine still coming?"

"Should be. Rachel might be coming too, and I said I'd ask the others too. If they're not grounded, it might be a full house," Mouse joked.

"So I should leave the water guns at home then?"

"Probably a good idea," she said with a laugh.

"All right. I'll see you in about twenty minutes."

"Okay, drive safe. See you soon."

Hanging up, Puck shouldered his school bag and headed downstairs.

"I'm going over to Jane's to study, Mum. Be back later," he called.

"Okay. Have a good time," his mother called back. "Would you be able to pick Katie up from school this afternoon? I need to take the car to the mechanics."

"All right. Bye."

"Bye, Noah. Love you."

"You too, Mum," he called, hurrying out to his car before she could drag out their conversation further.

...

"It's a study group, Mum. I'm not going to do anything stupid like last time," Finn promised. "I need all the help I can get with this stuff, and my friends are smarter than I am. Please, I don't want to repeat senior year."

"These smart friends of yours... Are they the same friends who were hospitalised with you?" Carole asked pointedly.

"Not _all_ of them were," he protested, lamely and he knew it.

"Are you going over to Jane's with Kurt and Blaine, Finn?" Burt asked as he came into the kitchen, wiping his grease-covered forehead on his handkerchief.

"Burt! He's _grounded_," Carole hissed quickly.

"Kurt's going to Jane's to study, and if Finn goes, then Kurt can keep an eye on him. Finn can still be grounded after their study group thing," Burt said.

"You're making me out to be the bad guy, Burt," she replied, trying to keep from arguing with her husband in front of Finn.

"No, I'm not. I'm showing Finn that we can reach an agreement. We both agree that his studies are important. Today's session is meant to be on English - or was it Spanish?" Burt asked, looking to Finn.

"English. Shakespeare... We're reading Macbeth," he replied quickly. "I don't understand half of it, I swear it's not even written in English, and I really need the help. Please, Mum. Kurt'll be there to keep an eye on me, and I promise that I'll come straight back here when we're done."

Carole seemed to realise that she was outnumbered, and she sighed heavily. "Fine, but I'll be testing you on Macbeth over dinner tonight, understood? If you haven't learnt a thing, you'll be staying home and _I'll_ help you study for your exams."

"You know Macbeth?" Finn asked in surprise.

"Of course I do. Now go off to your study group before I change my mind."

Finn nodded, stooping low to kiss her cheek. "Thanks Mum. Thanks Burt," he added, hugging him briefly before running out of the house.

"Where are you going?" Burt asked as Carole left the kitchen to go towards the study.

"To read Macbeth. I read it in high school and I don't remember a thing," Carole muttered.

Burt tried not to smile too much, and headed back into the garage to keep working.

...

"You're coming to prom?" Mercedes asked Kurt, her voice turning to an excited squeal when he nodded in confirmation.

"Since you lot can't sing for prom in case it sets off your throats, Kurt asked very nicely if the Warblers could sing instead," Blaine said, his arm around Kurt's shoulders proudly.

"Of course, all I had to do was get a little teary, say how much I missed all of you, and then add a bit of 'healthy competition', and Schue was tripping over his feet to get us to attend," Kurt said primly, his expression faltering as he laughed and hugged Mercedes.

"What are you singing? More importantly, what are you wearing?"

"We've decided not to wear Dalton uniforms in case the bouncers throw us out before we even get on the floor, but apart from that, I don't really have anything picked out," Blaine said, shrugging.

"Don't worry, I do," Kurt promised, patting his arm.

"Oh, and speaking of clothes, you look absolutely divine, Kurt," Mercedes gushed, holding him back to look at his vest, shirt and pants ensemble.

"Believe me, I know I do. Even Dad said something about looking sharp, which is as close to a compliment about clothing as I'll get from him," he said, grinning.

"Okay, everyone's here now. Butts on chairs, and books open! All discussions about prom, graduation, or anything not related to Shakespeare or English are temporarily forbidden," Mouse called, closing the door behind Finn's entrance.

"Study nazi," Santana muttered.

"I heard that," Mouse said, coming into the dining room.

"You were meant to, study nazi."

"Stop stalling, and start studying. My house, my rules," Mouse said, poking her tongue out at Santana as she sat down across from her.

"Why do I get the feeling I'm going to regret coming here to study?" Matt muttered to Mike, who just shook his head and hurried to get out his English book.

"Can someone help me understand this?" Finn asked, looking at the Shakespeare book as if it was written in Russian.

"Which part?" Mouse asked.

"All of it."

"You haven't been listening in class?"

"I have been listening! I just haven't been understanding," he said, his cheeks colouring. "Mr. Jefferson said that if I didn't improve on the mock exam he gave us, that I'd be repeating senior year," he admitted quietly.

"Okay, let's hope it doesn't get to that. Open to the first page; if we start by reading it out loud, you might get a better feel for the language that's being used. I promise it's in English," she added.

Finn nodded and opened to the first page.

"We all might as well do this. There's more than two characters," Mercedes pointed out.

"Oh, I call dibs on Lady Macbeth," Kurt said quickly.

"Then I'll play Lady Macduff," Rachel said.

"Finn, you should do Macbeth. You'll get to understand his character better then," Mouse said. "And I've got dibs on the witches."

"You can't do all three. Besides, I'm the Queen Bitch, I should be a witch," Santana said with a grin.

"Why not Hecate? The witches answer to her," Brittany said.

"Maybe Mouse should be Hecate then," she replied, laughing.

"I'll do Duncan," Puck said. "It's good to be King," he added, grinning.

"I can be Malcolm," Terrence offered, ignoring Puck's cry of 'son, you've come home!' with a roll of his eyes.

"Banquo's mine," Mike said.

"I might as well play Ross," Blaine said, shrugging.

"I can do Macduff," Artie said, flicking through the pages to see his lines.

"I want to do a witch," Mercedes said.

"Fine, you, Santana and I can be witches. Brittany, what do you say to Hecate?" Mouse asked, grinning.

"I can do that," she said, smiling brightly.

"Quinn, Tina, who do you want to play?" Mouse asked, looking to where they were sitting at the end of the table quietly.

"I can't tell who's left," Tina muttered. "I don't think anyone's chosen Angus yet, I'll do her lines."

"I'll play Lennox," Quinn said, shrugging.

Mouse hurried to write down each of their characters, frowning when she saw the amount left over. "Terrence, how soon can the team get here?" she asked, grinning.

"Fifteen minutes, but I don't know if they'll be up to this," Terrence said.

"We'll try them anyway. I reckon Lee could do Donalbain," Puck said with a grin, taking his phone out to call them.

"You're just saying that so you can boss him around as his father," Mouse said, laughing.

"If we do get all of the footballers, we're not going to have enough space to study inside," Artie pointed out.

"I'm not sure they'd be able to cover the characters left anyway," Santana added, looking at the list with a frown.

"Ah well, we'll try and see what happens. Want to start now and we'll just go by ear until they arrive?" Mouse asked.

"Might as well. I'm the first witch," Santana said.

"Second," Mercedes said quickly.

"Third witch. Oh, that means I get the scale of dragon line, awesome," Mouse said, grinning.

They all went quiet, opening the books to the first act and scene.

Taking a deep breath, Santana started with her first line. "When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning or in rain?"

...

Some time later, they finally finished reading through the entire play. A dictionary was sitting beside Mouse to help with words that she couldn't quite translate into understandable English. After the footballers had arrived, they spread out so that they were sitting in the lounge room, some moving chairs into the small foyer, while others had taken up residence on the staircase itself.

They often stopped between sentences, asking each other questions, putting emphasis on certain words and lines to give them more meaning. After the second reading, there was a loud beeping sound and Mouse frowned, seeing the time.

"I've got to go pick Candy up from school. If you want to keep reading, I'll be back soon," she said, getting up from the lounge to head out.

"I'll come with you," Puck offered, standing too.

"Me too," Terrence said.

In a matter of seconds, everyone had decided to go to pick up Candy from school. Mouse shook her head, wondering what Candy's response would be on seeing the crowd to pick him up.

"All right, file out then," Mouse said, holding the door open for all of them to get out of the house. She locked the door once they were all out and followed them down the street towards the school. "Candy might just have a heart attack of happiness when he sees all of us turning up," she muttered to herself, shaking her head.

Mouse's prediction was almost right, Candy grinning so brightly that the sun seemed dim, and he ran out of the school towards them.

"Sweet's happy to see you," he said breathlessly from his running.

He hugged them each individually, tugging on Terrence's hand and asking to be carried on his shoulders. Terrence laughed and lifted him up easily. Lee took Candy's schoolbag, fitting the Toy Story strapped bag on his shoulders.

"What did you do at school today, sweetie?" Mouse asked, smiling up at him.

"Sweet did exams, like Mousie and Terry! Mrs. Komp gave me a gold star," Candy said proudly.

"Candy has exams?" Terrence asked with a slight frown.

"Mrs. Komp tests them at the end of each week to see what they've learnt. Speaking, reading, writing, that sort of things. He's calling them exams since that's what we're all doing, and he's taking them very seriously," Mouse answered for Candy.

"Exams are impot... impoor... portal... im-port-ant," Candy said, sounding out the word slowly. "Mrs. Komp taught us plusses and minuses-es. One plus one is two, one plus two is three, one plus three is four," he recited, splaying his fingers to correspond with the correct number. "Sweet asked to read Macbeth, and Mrs. Komp let us."

"What?" Finn asked in surprise. _He was barely reading and understanding it, so how was Mrs. Komp's class reading it_?!

"He's got a junior reader version of Macbeth. I've been helping him read it this week. It's not too bad," Mouse said, shrugging.

"Mind if I read it too, Candy?" Finn asked, looking at him with a grin.

Candy grinned back at him. The book was small, and he knew it off by heart, the story nothing more than a song in prose.

"Three witches meet in the middle of a storm," he began to recite carefully.

...

On arriving home, Mouse found that her mother had come home while they were all out, three grocery bags sitting on the kitchen bench with the spaghetti ingredients she'd asked for. The receipt had been placed beside the bags with a note, the total amount circled in red and Sarah's note adding that Jane owed her the money. Shoving the note and receipt in her pocket before anyone saw it, Mouse put the ingredients away quickly, and returned to the lounge room.

Everyone was sitting with their books, ready to put on a impromptu performance for Candy, who had asked, begged, and pleaded to hear the big version of Macbeth. They'd only read the play once, and were a bit nervous, but Candy's excitement was contagious, and they introduced their characters with wide grins (and in Kurt's case as Lady Macbeth, a curtsy).

Their reading became dramatic as they picked up various objects in the room in place of props. The blanket on the lounge became a coat, the TV remote control a knife, a bowl of potpourri the witches' cauldron. Candy loved it all, even gasping and getting teary when someone left to 'die' on the staircase (after Duncan's death, Puck returned with popcorn).

Finn found that the play made more sense after Candy's recital. It wasn't the be all and end all, but it helped to hear it in plain and proper English. If he didn't think so much about the words, and more on what the sentences actually meant, Finn found that he could get through his part as Macbeth without as much trouble. He was kind of proud of the way that he thought of holding the remote control as a knife too. He just hoped that it would be enough for both his mother's questions as well as the exam's.

...

After their performance, Candy wished them luck and went up to his room to read his own Macbeth book. Mouse used the past exam questions that Rachel had brought with her to test each of them, answers called out quickly over and a half-hour argument occurring about the consequences of the soldiers dressing up as trees. Feeling pleased that they'd actually learnt something about Macbeth, Mouse suggested that they go to the park as a reward. They needed to move after sitting for so long, after all. Everyone agreed quickly, and within a matter of seconds, they were all standing, stretching their pin-and-needle limbs and ready to go to the park.

"Candy, want to come to the park with us?" Mouse called up the stairs.

Candy was at the top of the stairs in seconds and jumped down them two at a time, grinning brightly at the idea.

"What have I told you about jumping on the stairs, Candy?" Mouse asked, her arms folded.

He bit his lip, looking abashed and very sorry for himself. "Sweet can get hurt, so sweet shouldn't jump on the stairs."

"And if you hurt yourself, you'd make me very worried and upset. You don't want to do that, do you?"

Candy shook his head quickly. "Sorry, Mousie," he said quietly.

"All right. Remember that next time you want to jump on the stairs, okay, sweetie?"

"Okay!"

Mouse smiled and offered him her hand. Candy took it and very solemnly stepped down the last three steps.

"Ready to go?" Puck asked, already waiting outside with everyone else.

Grabbing her keys from the stand by the door, Mouse nodded and went outside with Candy, closing and locking the door behind her.

The walk to the park was a short one, Candy slightly subdued along the way, but brightening on seeing the playground. He let go of Mouse's hand and ran over to the swings, sitting down and waiting impatiently for someone to push him. Mike and Matt went over to push him, taking turns as Candy laughed, his legs swinging high into the air. Puck grinned at the sight and his laughter, and took Mouse's hand, leading her over to the roundabout. Her laughter soon joined in with Candy's as the wind whipped at her, the world spinning around her at a fast pace. Tina and Mercedes jumped on with her, Finn helping Puck push as well. Quinn sat on top of the monkey bars with Santana and Brittany, while Rachel stood at the top of the slide, performing a dramatic monologue before sliding down. Artie waited to the side, watching everyone with a smile until Puck came over. Looking up at him warily, Artie wondered just what he was going to do to him.

"Well, you want to go on the roundabout or not? Come on, Abrams, hold on tight," Puck said, lifting him out of his chair surprisingly gently.

"Artie! Come on the swings with sweet next!" Candy called, waving to him.

"Uh..." Artie wasn't sure what to say to that. It had been years since he'd been on a swing.

"Yeah, he'll be there, Candy kid!" Puck called, grinning.

"Ready, Artie?" Tina asked, sitting next to him. She put her arm around his waist and held onto the bar tightly.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Artie replied, silently hoping that he wouldn't fall off of the spinning metal death contraption.

Puck nodded to Finn across the other side of the roundabout, and they both started to push as fast and as hard as they could, their feet pounding against the wood chips beneath them.

The wind tore past him, and Artie held onto the bar as tight as he could, terrified and excited at the same time. He closed his eyes, Tina laughing happily beside him, and turned his face up to the sky, the sunshine warming him. In that moment, with the world spinning around him and the wind in his hair, Artie felt like he was actually running.

_Let the sun shine on your face,_

_And don't let your love go to waste._

_Now is the time, got to make up your mind,_

_Let it shine on you, let it shine on you._

_Feel like there is nothing, nowhere to go,_

_You try and fight, but you can't let go._

_Of all the pain, got so much to gain,_

_Now is the time_.

...

End of the thirtieth chapter.

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!


	31. Chapter 31

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee.

_Read on, oh faithful ones_...

...

Chapter Thirty-One

...

"Good luck on your exams, honey. Make me proud!"

Mouse waved back at her mother weakly, feeling slightly sickened at the fake expression on her mother's face. Sarah tore out of the parking lot a moment later, tyres screeching loudly as she cut off another car. Sighing heavily, Mouse adjusted her bag and headed into the school building for the first of her five exams that week.

As she made her way down the corridor, Mouse couldn't help but notice how nervous everyone looked. Some people looked as though they'd just rolled out of bed, others were clutching travel mugs filled with coffee, some were jittery and tapping their fingers against their legs. The tapping started a beat, and she could almost hear the desperate song that accompanied the sound.

_Tell me where our time went,  
__And if it was time well spent.  
__Just don't let me fall asleep,  
__Feeling empty again.  
__'Cause I fear I might break,  
__And I fear I can't take it.  
__Tonight, I lie awake,  
__Feeling empty_.

The door to the exam room opened. Goosebumps raised on Mouse's arms as everyone filed inside in time to the beat. Their footsteps continued the song, and her heart raced. They were all instructed to turn their phones off and leave their bags at the front of the room. The only things they were allowed to carry were a pencil and eraser. If anyone was caught with anything else, they would automatically fail.

_I can feel the pressure,  
__It's getting closer now.  
__We're better off without you,  
__I can feel the pressure.  
__It's getting closer now,  
__We're better off without you_.

They were seated alphabetically, and Mouse sat at her labelled desk quietly, trying to take deep breaths and calm herself. Puck squeezed her shoulder gently as he passed to get to his seat at the back of the room, and she tried to smile in response. Around her, Mouse could see her friends from Glee, and they all looked as nervous as she did.

_Now that I'm losing hope,  
__And there's nothing else to show.  
__For all of the days that we spent,  
__Carried away from hope?  
__Some things I never know,  
__And I had to let them go.  
__I'm sitting all alone,  
__Feeling empty_.

"Your exams start now!" The examiner's words pulled Mouse out of her thoughts abruptly and she could faintly hear the sound of the school bell ringing, signalling that it was 9am.

Mouse took a deep breath, and turned the page to begin her English exam.

...

On the final day of their exams, BreadstiX was packed with senior students. Some had looks of pure relief, others seemed terrified, and everyone was talking over tables to each other about how they thought they went. The Warblers were in attendance, Kurt looking paler than usual as he reiterated the horror of forgetting everything he'd learnt in Music class and how he was sure that he'd completely failed. Mouse was quiet as she watched everyone talk to each other, a few people walking around the restaurant restlessly. She leant back against Puck, his arm around her as he talked with Finn and Mike about the English exam.

"Oh god, oh god. My parents are going to absolutely freak out if I don't at least _pass_ my exams. How am I going to tell them that I've probably failed everything except English? Although that's debatable," Tina groaned, hitting her head on the table.

"I'm sure you haven't failed, Tina. I think the only way you can do that is if you write nothing but your name," Artie said, attempting a grin but falling short.

"Oh, god. Did I even write my name?! Tell me I wrote my name," she begged, looking at the others imploringly.

"You wrote your name. It was the very first thing we had to do, and I saw your pencil moving. You'll be fine, Tina," Mouse said, patting her hand gently.

"How are you so calm?"

"I'm not calm. I'm pretending to be calm. I'm not going to be calm until I get my results back, and even then I won't be completely calm until I hear back from the colleges I applied to," she replied, her hands shaking a little. "Now, breathe in and out with me, and we'll both pretend like everything's perfect."

Tina nodded and followed Mouse's example, inhaling and exhaling loudly, before forcing the biggest and cheesiest grin on her face that she could manage.

"How many times do we have to do this?" Tina asked a few moments later.

"Until we stop thinking about the exams," Mouse replied, exhaling again.

Tina groaned in annoyance, but continued along with Mouse, smiling at Artie and making him laugh.

"What are you two doing?" Santana asked with a frown, sitting across from Mouse.

"Breathing and smiling until we stop thinking about exams," Tina replied.

"Is it working?" she asked dubiously.

"It's better than sitting here worrying over it uselessly," Mouse said, shrugging.

"Good point. But you look ridiculous, so I'm definitely not joining in," Santana said, smirking.

Someone ran past, looking queasy and heading for the bathroom.

"They look better than that guy," Artie said, joining in with the breathing and smiling exercises too.

"Yeah, but by comparison, that kid covered in spaghetti looks better than that guy," Puck said with a chuckle.

"That kid covered in spaghetti looks really happy," Finn said, grinning.

"We probably did at his age too, if we were covered in food," Mouse said.

"I don't think you have to be a certain age to be happy about being covered in food," Puck said with a grin, scooping up the last of his cake and smearing it on Mouse's face.

Her mouth dropped open in surprise and she let out a sound of annoyance that had everyone going silent and looking over at them. She would have been embarrassed if not for the fact that she was so annoyed at Puck. Mouse wiped the cake off her face and smeared it on Puck, giving him a satisfied smirk at the sight of the pink icing on him. Artie gave a chuckle and got Tina's attention, throwing some of his ice cream at her. She squealed as the cold substance suddenly hitting her and retaliated with her carrot cake. In a matter of seconds, food was flying across the restaurant, people laughing and screaming. Kurt immediately went to hide in the bathroom, not willing to ruin his outfit. Blaine just laughed and joined in the fray. Mercedes threw a piece of cake at Terrence as she hurried after Kurt, laughing. Puck pulled Mouse out of the booth, icing-covered fingers gripping hers as he used a plastic plate as a shield. Finn and Mike were working together to throw heaps of jelly at people, until Finn turned on Mike and dumped a plateful of the coloured jelly down the back of his shirt. Mike swore vengeance and took the last of Artie's ice cream, standing on the booth's seat to pour it directly on top of Finn's head. Standing up at such a height made Mike a bigger target, and he soon found himself covered in condiments, surrounded by a ragtag bunch armed with bottles of sauce and mustard.

The restaurant manager wasn't happy at the food fight, yelling that it was a safety hazard for them to be throwing food everywhere. (He was immediately set upon by cheerleaders with bowls of spaghetti.) While some of the families left the restaurant complaining loudly, there were a few who joined in the food fight, adults and children alike laughing in delight.

Puck batted away most of the food that was coming their way, the plate a surprisingly strong shield against the array of foods. Mouse laughed at the sight of Quinn with bright pink hair, Brittany's strawberry cheesecake a victim to the fight.

The food ran out soon enough, people laughing at the sight of each other. Everyone still in the restaurant was made to clean up everything that they'd thrown, the restaurant manager refusing to let anyone leave until it was spotless. There were a few groans at that, but everyone hurried to comply when he threatened to call the police.

"I don't know if I'll want to eat dinner after this," Mouse said, sweeping up a mess of spaghetti, ice cream and cake.

"Well, you probably will want something eventually. It's not like we actually ate any of this," Puck said, grinning at her.

She grinned and agreed with a nod, and they continued to clean up quietly.

...

"So, are you going to Prom?" Puck asked Mouse.

"Yep, you?"

"Yep. Want to go together?"

"My, how utterly romantic of you," Mouse said in a droll voice, breaking into laughter when he looked worried. "Yeah, sure. I promise not to wear pink, and I'm happy with a cheap over-the-counter corsage."

"What the hell's a corsage?" Puck asked, frowning and hoping he hadn't gotten in over his head already.

"Basically, a pin made out of flowers. It probably has a special meaning or origin, but I've got no idea what that is. You're also meant to wear a tie that matches the colour of my dress."

"Uh-huh. Why?"

"So we can find each other in a crowd by colour alone? Probably so it looks nicer in the photos," she said with a shrug. "Oh, I know! Let's go wild and match my dress to your tie!" Mouse said, laughing.

"You're loving this, aren't you?" he muttered.

"Yeah, a little bit. Just know that both of our mothers are going to need at least half an hour _each_ for photos. I say we elope to Prom instead; I say we're going to meet at your house, you say we're going to meet at mine, and we meet at a halfway point and go from there instead."

"Do you really think it'd work?" Puck asked with a wry grin.

"Doubt it. Hmm, a limo might be cheaper if we all go as a group."

"Limo?" he asked, his voice close to breaking at the mere thought of the cost.

"Don't look so worried; _you're_ not the one who has to go dress shopping," Mouse said, shuddering.

Puck grinned suddenly, his eyes roving over her form. "Will you take requests?"

"About what? And don't you dare say anything about a see-through dress, or I'll have to hit you for being a pig."

"You really think I want everyone else looking at you in a see-through dress?" he asked with a snort of disbelief. "I was just going to ask about the colour. I want to see you in red," Puck said with a broad grin.

"Red? Hmm, I don't know if I can pull that colour off. I'd probably look like I escaped from the circus," Mouse said, looking down at her body and frowning as she tried to picture wearing such a bold colour.

"Will you try, for me?" he asked.

"All right. But if I look ridiculous, then that's the last we'll discuss it, okay?"

"Fine by me. Now, explain more about this corsage thing."

...

"How do I look? Actually _tell me_ this time," Mouse said, glaring at Quinn, Mercedes and Kurt.

They were _meant_ to be helping her, but all they'd done was sing random bits of songs at her instead of telling her if she looked like a circus clown!

"_Girl, you're amazing,  
__Just the way you are_," they sang, laughing.

"Oh, that's it! I'm changing back into my _normal_ clothes. I don't care anymore, I'll go to Prom in a suit!"

"So long as it isn't your birthday suit; you can't steal _my_ thunder," Kurt said primly, laughing when she huffed at him.

"I'll take your thunder and shove it up your butt, you annoying..."

"Jane! Language!" Quinn said, laughing.

"Would you prefer Spanish or French? I might even remember a curse in Chinese too," she said sarcastically over her shoulder.

Pulling on her pants and shirt, Mouse sighed as she sat down to put her shoes on again. This was the third store. Quinn and Mercedes had already found their dresses, Kurt was designing his own suit, and Mouse was getting frustrated that nothing seemed to be right.

_Ugh, she hated clothes shopping anyway! She didn't know why she'd thought this self-inflicted torture would be _**_fun_**.

Mouse left the changing room and saw that she was alone. Her friends were over in the accessories section now, looking at bags, jewellery, and hats to match their outfits. Sighing, she put the dress back on the rack and headed over to the others. On her way, Mouse noticed a dress she hadn't seen before. It was a midnight blue colour at the bottom, lightening to a soft blue at the top. There were a series of diamond-like sequins along the hem of the dress, a few swirling up into a pattern along the middle of the dress. Looking at the price, Mouse almost laughed out loud. It was gorgeous, but for that price, she'd never be able to leave Lima!

"Try it on, Mouse," Kurt said firmly, taking the dress off and handing it to her.

She was surprised that she hadn't seen him coming - or heard him, at that, considering he was wearing a ridiculous bag with bells sewn into it - and was too surprised to stop him from leading her back over to the changing rooms.

"I... I can't afford it," she hissed, even as he ushered her into the stall.

"I don't care. You were staring at the dress for a good three minutes. Put it on, or I'll make you," Kurt threatened.

Remembering the last time he'd made her get into a dress, Mouse sighed and shut the curtains with a snap, changing out of her clothes yet again.

"Are you still in there, or did you dig your way out with a plastic spoon?" Kurt asked.

"Thanks for the idea," Mouse said, opening the curtains and rolling her eyes at him. "What?" she asked when she saw his slack jaw expression.

"Come out here. Right now. _Girls_!" Kurt called loudly, pulling her out of the changing room and into the well-lit store.

"_What the hell_? Is that your equivalent of a dog whistle for fashionistas?" Mouse asked with a mutter when Mercedes and Quinn seemed to appear out of thin air a second later.

"Oh, stop being sarcastic and turn around so we can look at you properly," Kurt said, stepping back.

"What, no random song this time?" she asked, turning around slowly.

"What did I just say?" Kurt asked sternly.

Mouse sighed, but stayed silent as she completed a full turn. Looking between the three of them, she frowned when they just kept looking at her as if she'd grown a second head.

"Okay, I don't care what you just said now - you're really starting to freak me out. What's going on?"

"You have to buy it," Quinn said. "Go back in there, get out of that dress, and buy it."

"You're kidding me, right? This costs more money than I have! How do you expect me to pay for it?"

"I'll pay half," Quinn replied simply.

"What?! No! I'm not buying this dress. Where's that first one? That wasn't so bad," Mouse said, turning away to look for the orange dress.

"You looked like an overcooked carrot, I refuse to let you walk out of the store with that _thing_."

"Great, now you tell me the truth?!"

"The second one made you look like you were wearing a tent instead of a dress. Numbers three through six aren't even worth describing, and do not even get me started on the other stores! That dress is the one that you're meant to buy, and that is the dress that you're wearing to Prom," Quinn said firmly.

"I refuse to accept your money or your charity, Quinn. I'll just borrow one of my mum's dresses from home. God knows she's got enough to choose from."

"No," Quinn said, glaring. She took Mouse's arm and guided her back into the dressing room. "You are buying this dress, Jane. The reason I want to pay half is to pay you back for everything you did for me while I was pregnant."

"I... I didn't do anything. You just slept at my house."

"That's more than my own parents did for me," Quinn replied. "Look, you kept me warm, fed, and - somehow - you also kept me sane. You're the reason I haven't gone off the deep end and dyed my hair some ridiculous colour, okay? I'm paying for half of this dress, and if you keep arguing with me about it, I'll buy the whole thing and superglue the damn thing to you just to make sure you wear it to Prom."

"Geez, and you think I kept you sane?" Mouse asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Shut up, and look at yourself," Quinn said, turning her abruptly and facing her to the mirror.

"Yeah, okay, I look decent and somewhat feminine. It's not worth blowing my budget on; I'm probably only going to wear it once, and it'll probably get stained within minutes of getting to Prom. Finger food and fancy dresses, not a good idea," she muttered, even as she smoothed the material down carefully.

Mercedes opened the curtain and looked in with a grin. "We've been wearing the salesperson down; she's agreed to a 50% discount just to get us out of the store."

"Hurry, her offer expires in five minutes," Kurt added, grinning when Quinn pulled Mouse's zip down quickly.

"Get changed now. I'll buy it, you pay me back for half," Quinn said, somehow physically lifting Mouse out of the dress and running out of the change rooms with the bundle of material.

"What the hell just happened?"

"She's a cheerleader; Quinn lifts people on a daily basis for fun. You'd better do as she says; I think she's close to doing a triple somersault over someone's head," Mercedes said with a laugh.

Mouse shook her head and pulled her clothes on yet again.

...

"Mousie! Mousie! Your mail's here!" Candy called, holding the envelopes carefully as he made his way upstairs.

Mouse opened her door quickly and waited as patiently as she could while Candy brought the mail up to her. _She'd been waiting for news from the colleges she'd applied to for months_!

"Thank you, sweetie," she said with a smile, taking the envelopes from him with a trembling hand.

Candy waited expectantly for her to open the envelopes, and Mouse tried to calm her nerves as she ripped open the first one.

"Can sweet read it?" Candy asked, looking up at her with big eyes.

"Okay," she said, more than relieved to not have to read the news for herself.

Candy grinned brightly and accepted the open envelope solemnly. He pulled out the letter with a careful precision, his brow furrowing as he tried to read the words.

"Dear Miss Jane Franklin - that's you, isn't it Mousie? - Thank you for your _app-li-ca-tion_ to Ohio State College. D-u... - what's this say? Hee, it rhymes with blue - Due to a record number of sch-scho-scholar - I _know_, Mousie! - scholarships, we are _un-for-tuna-tely_ - unfortunately? Oh, that's _not_ good. - unfortunately unable to accept you to our college."

Candy stopped reading abruptly, his smile fell, and he glowered at the piece of paper as if it offended him in the worst possible way. Then, with a ferocity that surprised even Mouse, he screwed up the piece of paper and threw it over the stair banister.

"Candy!"

He blew a raspberry after the piece of paper for good measure, not looking at all remorseful as he turned back to Mouse. "It was bad!"

"You know not to do that to people when they're bad, don't you?" she asked in a mutter.

"Sweet wouldn't do that to _people_! Just paper," he replied, shaking his head at his silly sister. "Can sweet read that one too?" Candy asked, smiling again.

"All right," Mouse said, opening the envelope again and handing it to him.

His eyes scanned the letter slowly and he frowned, going to screw the paper up.

"Read it out loud first. You could do with the practice," she said, nodding for him to start.

"But it's badder than that one!" Candy protested. He saw the look on Mouse's face and sighed heavily before starting to read from the letter. "Dear Miss Jane Franklin. We are unable to offer you a scholarship. Thank you for applying."

"That's it?" Jane asked in surprise, taking the thin piece of paper and seeing the mere five sentences - including the date and Dean's signature. Muttering under her breath, she screwed the piece of paper up and threw it down with the first.

Candy giggled. "Don't do that to people, Mousie."

"Only paper," she promised with a quick smile.

"Next?" he asked, moving to sit on the top stair carefully.

Mouse sat next to him, opened the third envelope and handed it to him. There were only two more envelopes to open after this one, and Mouse had no idea what she'd do if she didn't get accepted into any of the colleges. She felt a little nauseous at the thought, but tried to stay positive and returned her attention to Candy.

"Thank you for your application. Unfortunately, due to high scholarship numbers - do I have to finish reading it, Mousie?"

She sighed and shook her head. Candy scowled at the piece of paper, screwed it up tightly and threw it down the stairs. Mouse did the same with the envelope just to make herself feel better. The next letter and envelope met the same demise, and Mouse put her head on her knees as Candy began to read the final letter.

"Dear Miss Jane Franklin. Thank you for applying to the University of Illinois - Urbana ... Champ-a-ign ... Champaign. We are pleased to accept your scholarship application for the Library and Information Studies degree." Candy stopped suddenly and looked to her, smiling brightly. "That's good, isn't it, Mousie?"

"Yes, it really is, Candy."

He hugged her tightly, then stood up carefully and headed to her room, the letter still in his hand. Mouse breathed a sigh of relief, her hands still trembling, and she looked at the pamphlets that were inside of the envelope. She thought it had felt heavier than the other ones, but hadn't wanted to get her hopes up. Candy returned a moment later, a large book in his hands.

"Where is it?" he asked, sitting down again and handing her the book of US road maps.

Mouse flipped through the pages to find where Champaign, Illinois was. Candy squinted at the name on the page, and asked where they were now. A few more minutes passed as she found Lima in the book, and Candy made a funny little noise as he tried to compare the distance to real life.

"It's about four and a half hours away," Mouse said.

"Oh... Sweet goes to school longer than that," he said, smiling.

"Yes, and I can come up every week if you want."

Candy nodded and smiled again, hugging her once more. "Sweet is happy for Mousie. You'll be good."

"Thanks, sweetie," Mouse murmured, stroking his hair gently as she hugged him in return. "Come on, let's go make pizza to celebrate."

"Oh, yum!" Candy said, standing and going downstairs to the kitchen eagerly.

Mouse went after him, picking up the balls of paper that were littered on the floor. A sense of relief and sadness washed over her. She was finally going to get out of Lima, but in doing that she'd have to leave Candy - and Puck - behind.

...

End of the thirty-first chapter.

Thank you for reading, I hope you liked it!


End file.
